One of the things I have been trying to do for some time is meal prepping for the week.  I am constantly searching for recipes that are lower in calories, tasty and can be easily packed for lunch.  I also don’t mind eating the same meal multiple times, so this works for me.

A favorite site of mine is Skinnytaste.  Gina, the site’s author, creates recipes that are healthy and low-fat but don’t sacrifice flavor.  I visit her site at least once a week.  Her readers are also active commentators, which is something I definitely appreciate and look for when viewing any recipe online.  I love reading people’s reviews, comments and questions.  Chances are, there’s someone out there who has the same question and/or comment as you, and it’s nice to see how their issues were resolved.  Granted, the comments should be taken with a grain of salt, as we all have different tastes, but overall I find them helpful and use them as a guideline.  

Take today’s recipe for example, Skinnytaste’s Skinny Chicken Enchiladas.  It seems like a very simple recipe at first, but that is only if you already have shredded chicken on hand.  Not only did I not have shredded chicken, but I also didn’t have a slow cooker to make the chicken.  So I searched the comments section for people like me who needed to make shredded chicken without a slow cooker.  I also didn’t know if I would be able to find the chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, so I searched to see what people did as an alternate.

That being said, this dish on its own was very easy to make and not too time consuming.  However, since I had to make the shredded chicken and I also decided to make some brown rice as a side, I was cooking for over two hours.  Definitely not what I expected to do on a Monday night, but in the end it all turned out very delicious and now I am ready for the week!

I used three recipes to make the entire meal:

• Skinnytaste’s Skinny Chicken Enchiladas
• Food.com’s Shredded Chicken Recipe (I just did up to the shredded chicken part, first five ingredients)
• Skinnytaste’s Fiesta Lime Rice with brown rice (I used this Blue Apron brown rice instructions as a guideline)

Here’s a quick glance at the order I decided to make everything:

1. Started making the brown rice.
2. While rice was cooking, began prepping and cooking the chicken.
3. While rice and chicken were cooking, started prepping the rice ingredients.
4. Once chicken was done, placed on a plate and let it cool inside the fridge and finished making the rice.
5. While chicken was cooling, started to make the enchilada sauce.
6. While sauce was cooking, started to shred the chicken.
7. Started making the enchilada filling.
8. Made enchiladas and placed in oven.

Ready?  Let’s go!

SKINNY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

INGREDIENTS

For the enchilada sauce:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 tbsp chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (I was able to find in the supermarket from a different brand)
• 1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (I used regular chili powder)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 3/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste

For the chicken:

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 8.5 oz (2 breast halves) cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• kosher salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder (I used regular chili powder)
• 1/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce

For the enchilada:

• 8 (7-inch) low-carb whole wheat flour tortillas (Skinnytaste suggests La Tortilla Factory but I didn’t have time to order, so I bought low carb ones at the supermarket.  They didn’t have whole wheat and low carb.)
• 1 cup shredded low fat Mexican cheese
• non-stick cooking spray
• 2 tbsp chopped scallions or cilantro for topping
• (Fat free refried beans pictured below used as a side)

 

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, spray oil and sauté garlic.
2. Add chipotle chilies, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Sauté onions and garlic on low until soft, about 2 minutes.
7. Add chicken, salt, cilantro, cumin, oregano, chili powder, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and cook 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
8. Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Put 1/3 cup chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it.
9. Place on baking dish seam side down, top with sauce.
10. Top with cheese.
11. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes.  I baked for 25 minutes and removed the foil for the last 2 minutes.
12. Top with low fat sour cream or scallions if you wish.

Serves 8

Nutritional Information
(Serving Size: 1 enchilada)

Calories	194
Total Fat	8 g
Saturated Fat	—
Cholesterol	27 mg
Sodium	640 mg
Total Carbohydrate	21 g
Dietary Fiber	9.5 g
Sugars	5 g
Protein	18 g
Calcium	—

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BROWN RICE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of brown rice
• 2 cups of water
• big pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium pot, heat the rice, salt and water to boiling on high.
2. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low.
3. Cook 25-30 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.
4. Remove from heat and fluff the cooked rice with a fork.

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FIESTA LIME RICE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups cooked long grain rice (I used brown rice and the 1 cup dry yielded about 3 1/2 cups cooked but I didn’t adjust the recipe for it since only now as I was typing did I realize that I made more rice than was needed!)
• 3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and heated
• 3/4 cup cooked corn (she used Trader Joe’s Fire Roasted frozen Corn, I used regular canned corn), heated
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 large scallion, diced fine
• 2-4 tbsp chopped cilantro (to your liking)
• 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice (I used the juice of half a lime)
• salt to taste
• 1 tomatillo (I added this one on my own)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine hot rice, heated corn, heated beans, tomato, scallion, cilantro, lime juice and salt if needed.
2. Toss and serve.

Serves 4

Nutritional Information (for the original recipe without my modifications)
(Serving Size: 1 cup)

Calories	152.8
Total Fat	0.8 g
Saturated Fat	—
Cholesterol	—
Sodium	—
Total Carbohydrate	33.7 g
Dietary Fiber	4 g
Sugars	1.7 g
Protein	5.7 g
Calcium	—

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SHREDDED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

• 4 boneless chicken breast halves
• 1⁄2 medium onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 tablespoon salt
• water

DIRECTIONS

1. Place all ingredients in a pot. Add just enough water to cover the chicken.
2. Bring to a slow boil, cover, lower heat to maintain a simmer and cook until done, about 20 – 25 minutes.
3. Remove chicken from pot, let cool and shred. (I cooled the chicken in the refrigerator.)

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NOTES

You may note that my enchiladas don’t look exactly like the ones on the Skinnytaste website.  That is because I used a printed recipe without pictures and didn’t go online while cooking to check anything.  I did notice as I was writing this post that my chicken mixture didn’t have as much sauce and she seemed to cover her enchiladas with less enchilada sauce.  I don’t think it mattered because mine still tasted delicious. I am very happy with the results and would definitely make again IF I already had shredded chicken at home.

Enjoy!
Adri