Green Enchiladas

This recipe, from Simply in Season, was one of those I was skeptical about at first. Peanuts? In the sauce? This isn’t Thai food, why are there peanuts? Three roasted poblano peppers?  Is this going to be super hot like most green sauces? (I am a HUGE Mexican food fan, but the only heat I can take is jalapeno heat, chiles not so much). Tomatillos? They were still in the U pick section at the CSA farm, hopefully they’re still good–I grabbed a few on the way home. But once I processed the ingredients for the green sauce, I couldn’t resist a taste. YUM!

1. This is the step I did the other day: Roast and peel 3 poblano peppers. Scrape out the seeds. Roast using the method of your choice–Google it or see my previous post, you’ll be researching for days.
2. Remove the husks from 3-4 tomatillos, cut into quarters, and microwave in 1/2 C of water 3-4 minutes (or broil when you roast the peppers, but make sure they don’t burn!)
3. Add the roasted peppers, nuked tomatillos and their cooking water, 1/4 C of unsalted dry roasted peanuts, 1/2 med onion, 2 T cilantro, and 1/2 tsp of salt to a food processor and process until smooth. Add water until it reaches desired consistency. I added about 1/2 C.
4. Dip 8 6-inch corn tortillas individually into boiling water 10-15 seconds to soften. Or just use whole wheat tortillas like I did; they were leftover. Waste not want not, although the corn probably would have been better! Fill each with 1/4 C shredded chicken or turkey (I used canned chicken) and 1 T feta or queso blanco (I used ricotta). Roll up and place in 9×9 pan. Pour sauce over all enchiladas, being sure to cover all edges.
5. Sprinkle with feta or queso blanco (or ricotta) and take at 350F until heated through, approx. 15 minutes. Note that neither feta nor queso blanco melt.

The verdict: Oh. my. word. SO good! LOVE the green sauce. And these are only 350 calories each! How crazy is that? DH suggested next time adding cumin seed to the meat and sliced jalapenos as a garnish (which he did add, I needn’t have worried about it being too spicy!).