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Friday, April 5, 2019

Cause I Am Nice Like That

Last night the temps dropped a little so I decided to hold off on grilling the steaks I bought the night before. About the only thing I had in the freezer that would thaw quickly was a pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs. I let them sit on the counter (Yes, I know I should not do that but I felt like living on the edge. ) When they were partially thawed I put a dutch oven filled about halfway with water and dumped them in it. They cooked until they were slightly tender, then I removed them form the liquid, chopped them coarsely and searched the fridge to decide exactly what I was going to do with them. I had some tortillas and originally had planned to make enchiladas one night this week, but I was feeling a little sorry for myself and did not want to have to make some altered version for me while TheHub got to eat he good stuff. So I did what any really sweet wife  would do__made him eat the same thing I could have.

Low Carb Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4 boneless skinless thighs, cooked  (reserve cooking liquid) and chopped (fairy small chop)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
salt and pepper to taste (I used no salt because I had salted the water used to cook the chicken.)

Mix together in a bowl and set aside.

1 medium cauliflower chopped in florets
reserved chicken cooking liquid

Cook the cauliflower in the chicken broth until it is very tender. Drain the liquid and, in the same pot , use a potato masher to create mashed cauliflower. You do not have to have it completely smooth. If you don't mind using additional equipment you could use a food processor. I hate to get mine out for something I can do by hand, but that is just my lazy butt wanting to use the minimum number of dishes all the time.

To the cauliflower mush add
1/2 teaspoon chili powder.
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon coriander
hot pepper flakes or a couple of splashes of hot sauce to taste (optional, but not optional for us)
1/4 cup coconut flour (It absorbs a lot of the liquid in the dish)
2 eggs

Beat together until it is well blended and the cauli mix feels and looks almost like a slightly dry cornbread batter. Spoon into a greased 9x9 casserole dish and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and top it with the seasoned chicken.

Now add:
1 can enchilada sauce (I used a green sauce because I found one that had no added sugar. Any sauce will do, or you can knock yourself out and even make your own)
About a cup and a half of shredded cheese. (I had about 1/2 cup of monterey jack and 4 thin
 pepper jack slices so that is what I used. You can tell by the picture above, I made no attempt to grate or even cut the slices.)

Pour the sauce over the chicken, top with the cheese and pop it back in the oven until everything is hot, bubbling, and the cheese is all melted, gooey goodness. (About 15 more minutes)

If you are really hungry spoon it out onto your plates immediately. I wanted it to be cut into pieces so it would look a little prettier in the picture. I let it rest for 7 or 8 minutes before trying and the first serving fell apart anyway. I did have success with the 2nd one.

And the verdict? This stuff was delicious. You know you have scored when the non-keto one gets seconds. I think that I will make a couple of changes next time though.  When I serve it I will probably top it with a spoonful of salsa or at least diced tomatoes, a few pickled jalapeno slices and a dollop of sour cream.

This will be added to our "have once a month" rotation as long as cauliflower is relatively inexpensive (Thank you Aldi)

And the 2nd best thing? Leftovers for my lunch a couple of days. Woo hoo!

15 comments:

  1. I love enchiladas - great low carb option

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    1. It was a very delicious way to enjoy enchilada flavors. I am not sure what, if any, carb difference there would be if I had used low carb tortillas, but I am eating no grains so it would not have worked for me anyway.

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  2. Leftovers are GOOD.
    Cauliflower is expensive here at the moment. I have seen them at up to $7 each. Not a happening thing for me until the price goes down. A lot.
    With one vegetarian and one carnivore in the house cooking two meals is common. And how I loathe the additional clean-up. (I rarely get out the food processor because of the additional cleaning. Colour me lazy).

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    1. I hate doing 2 meal preps. If I were vegetarian TheHub would be one too every time he ate at the house.

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  3. I'm glad you found a good keto-friendly way to make enchiladas! I really need to learn to like cauliflower! :)

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    1. I do like cauliflower, but in recipes like this when it is mixed with a nut flour and eggs, it neither tastes nor has a mouth "feell" like cauliflower.

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  4. I'm still not sold on cauliflower as a replacement for most things even though I like it. Obviously though, it was good in this dish. Since we are not on the Keto diet where cheese is your friend, I wonder if this would be as good with 1/2 the cheese.

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  5. That looks fabulous! Cauliflower is expensive where we are, and no Aldi's.

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    1. It was great. I figure our days of affordable cauliflower are about to end so I am eating it like crazy right now.

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  6. That looks fabulous, but OMG....my portion would probably be half that pan. How could your hubby have two pieces and you still get two more lunches out of it?

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    1. I probably ate 1/8 of the pan, TheHub had a little bigger serving plus Son2 and DIL2 ate with us. There was about 1/4 pan left over. It was more than enough for lunch. I am doing intermittent fasting and don't eat lunch before 2. My rule is I have to eat some uncooked veggie before I eat anything else and after that I am not terribly hungry so my leftover lunches are not huge

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  7. THat looks so good and we love enchiladas. I'll have to give these a try.

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  8. You know, I think I'm gonna have to have a go at this keto thingy! Seems like people not only lose weight but then rave about how wonderful they feel!

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    Replies
    1. I am not at that raving point yet, though I do feel considerably better

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