Laura and Leslie's Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

We LOVE enchiladas! I have at least three versions of enchiladas on HWM already with my favorite being my Chicken Verde Sour Cream Enchiladas.  These are the enchiladas that Jim lovingly refers to as my "Almost Engaged Enchiladas" because he nearly popped the question when I made these just a few short months after we started dating.

Okay, switching gears briefly to explain how this NEW recipe for Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas came into my life. My unexpected gallbladder surgery early this month left me on bed rest for longer than I would have imagined and my sweet friends from church, work and neighbors all pitched in to help provide meals for Jim and I. I cannot stress what a relief this small act of kindness has brought to us during this stressful month. We have dinner delivered every other night and eat on the leftovers for lunch and for dinner on off-nights. If you know someone recovering from surgery, or who recently had a baby, or who needs a little help for a short amount of time, I highly recommend you check out the free web site http://www.carecalendar.com/ where a community can easily rally around a family in need. Find out how it works here.

Lucky for Jim and I, our friend Leslie delivered this awesome dinner to us last week. She packaged the enchiladas in a disposable container (VERY helpful when you are delivered food to someone so they don't have to worry about getting the dishes back to you) and the sauce separately so the tortillas didn't get soggy sitting in the sauce, and she was even thoughtful enough to bring rice and beans to round out our dinner.

Love the directions! Easy enough!!

This recipe from Leslie (right) originally comes from her sister Laura (left). Aren't they beautiful sisters? I'm so happy to know these girls. Laura is also the one who gave me the recipe for the addicting Toffee Apple Dip. Anytime either one of you want to guest blog, let me know - I'm a fan of your recipes and love featuring them on HWM!

I have seen this brand of Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce in the grocery store, but had never tried it before. I actually had just a few leftover Hatch Chiles in my fridge, so I decided to dice them up and add them to the enchilada sauce.

Leslie rolled these beautifully in flour tortillas!

I just had to unroll one before I put them in the oven to see what they were stuffed with. Leslie shredded 3 cups cooked chicken and added 8 oz (2 cups) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (she used the Mexican blend), 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles, 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro and 1/2 tsp cumin.

I had a block of cheddar cheese in the fridge, so while the oven heated up I shredded a 1/2 cup of cheese on top of the enchiladas and put these in the oven while I assembled the sauce.

To use up the hatch chiles I had in the fridge, I poured the can of hatch green chile enchilada sauce in a small saucepan and added the chopped hatch chiles to warm the entire mixture through.

When I tasted the sauce, wow was it HOT. So I tried to cut the spiciness a little by adding 3 tablespoons of fat free plain yogurt. This helped a lot and also added a nice thickness to the sauce.

When the oven had reached 350 degrees I pulled the enchiladas out, the cheese had melted and my enchilada sauce was warmed through.

So I topped the enchiladas with all the sauce.

Yum! Then I added a little bit more shredded cheddar cheese on top.

When I pulled them out of the oven after 35 minutes, I topped with fresh cilantro!

We loved the rice that Leslie brought with our dinner, and she shared that it was Mahatma spanish rice. Her secret ingredient... she adds salsa to the rice instead of ketchup. Brilliant!

Here was our delicious meal, thanks Leslie for sharing with us! Your generosity is very much appreciated.