Chicken Enchilada
Pasta (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens,
Total Time: 1 hour, Servings: 8-10)
Ingredients
· 1 12 oz. package dried jumbo shell macaroni
· 2 tsp. olive oil
· 1 large green and 1 large red sweet peppers,
chopped
· 1 cup chopped red onion
· 1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and chopped
· 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
· 2 pkg. Trader Joe’s chickenless Chicken Strips,
chopped
· 1 16 oz. can refried beans
· 1 package taco seasoning mix
· 2 10 oz. cans enchilada sauce
· 8 oz. shredded Mexican-style four-cheese blend
· 1 cup sliced green onions
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta
according to package directions; drain. Rinse; drain and set aside.
2. In skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook
sweet peppers, onion, jalapeno, and ¼ tsp. salt for 5 minutes or until
tender.
3. Stir in chicken, beans, taco seasoning mix, and ½
cup enchilada sauce. Cook and stir 5 minutes.
4. Stir in ½ cup each of the cheese and green
onions.
5. Spread 1 cup of the remaining enchilada sauce in
3-quart rectangular baking dish.
6. Divide filling among shells. Arrange shells
atop sauce. Drizzle with remaining enchilada sauce.
7. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
8. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes more or
until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with remaining green onions.
I absolutely love this dish! My husband thoroughly enjoyed
the filling, but not the pasta (apparently, he’s not a fan of shells – never
knew that before and I’ll never understand how people can write off one type of
pasta, but that’s not for this blog). They were pretty spicy, but the
pasta helped tame that slightly. The original recipe calls for 3 peppers,
but I think that is too many considering the amount of filling that you
have. If you don’t have the Trader Joe’s chickenless Chicken Strips, you
could make it without or use some other soy product (i.e. Morning Star Farms
Burger Crumbles). It adds some texture to the dish and some needed
protein. Overall, everything tasted delish and I wouldn’t change a thing
to the above recipe.
