Chicken Mushroom Eggplant Enchiladas

A Fusion of Asian Vegetables with Traditional Southwest Ingredients

© Adrienne Larocque

Apr 8, 2009

Enchiladas are a dish that originated in Mexico. They typically consist of some source of protein (meat, chicken, seafood or beans) stacked between or rolled in corn tortillas and smothered with a sauce. This New Mexico-style enchilada dish combines chicken, oyster mushrooms and Japanese eggplants with a traditional red sauce.

Enchilada Recipe

• 12 corn tortillas

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 skinned chicken breasts
• 15 oyster mushrooms, cut up
• 2 Japanese eggplants, cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt

Sauce Ingredients:

• 5 dried chilies
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 onion
• 1 can tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce or red enchilada sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Topping Ingredients:

• 2 packages Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• sour cream
• cilantro

Directions

1. For the filling, rinse chicken, pat it dry, and cut it into 1-inch chunks. Add olive oil, salt, oregano, and garlic to a frying pan and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken together with the eggplant, onion and mushrooms, and sauté until the chicken is cooked completely, around 7 or 8 minutes.
2. For the sauce, cut the tops off of the chilies, remove the seeds and grind. Combine the ground chilies with the remaining sauce ingredients in a saucepan and simmer under low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. In a second frying pan, heat tortillas with a little olive oil until soft. Alternatively, you can warm the tortillas in a microwave oven.
4. Divide the chicken filling and some of the cheese amongst each tortilla and roll up. Nestle rolled tortillas together in a 9” x 13” (23 cm x 33 cm) glass baking dish, with the seam of the tortilla facing down. Cover everything with the sauce, and garnish with more cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes at 350oF/180oC, until the filling is hot and the cheese has melted.
6. Remove from oven. Top with sour cream and cilantro. Serve alone or with Mexican rice and black beans.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

For a change of pace, you can smother your enchiladas with a uniquely New Mexican green sauce. Visitors to New Mexico often are surprised to be offered a choice of "red or green" when ordering regional dishes. Green sauce is made using chopped roasted chilies whereas red sauce is made using chilies that have been dried and ground to a powder.

For a green sauce, use green tomatoes instead of red, chopped green chilies instead of dried chilies, coriander instead of cumin, and 2 peppers (seeded and minced). Add enough water to get the consistency you like, or thicken with a little flour.

Photos of Enchilada Ingredients

• Chicken Mushroom Eggplant Enchiladas
• Enchilada Ingredients: chicken, oyster mushrooms, Japanese eggplants, oregano, garlic, onion, salt
• Sauce Ingredients: dried chilies, oregano, onion, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, cumin
• New Mexico-style Enchiladas, served in a casserole dish

Chicken Mushroom Eggplant Enchiladas

Enchilada Ingredients

Sauce Ingredients

New Mexico-Style Enchiladas

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