Monday, July 21, 2014

Chicken Enchilada Casserole - Grain Free & Gluten Free

This evening I made my White Chicken Enchilada Casserole. I absolutely LOVE this dish. It tastes as good, if not better, than if I had made it the "regular" way. This is a great dish to make if you have leftover cooked chicken. It is also great reheated, too. I'm looking forward to having leftovers for lunch this week! If you wanted to make this on a busy weeknight, you could make the grain-free tortillas ahead of time (which only take a few minutes to make). You could also stuff them with the chicken and cheese and refrigerate them like that and then just make the sauce on the night you wanted to serve them; pour it over the enchiladas and bake. If you want, you can add cooked peppers and onions to them or whatever else you like -- I've done that and they are good that way, too. This evening I used a combination of cheddar and Monterey jack cheese. Also, one more tip...don't be worried if your sauce initially seems too liquidy after taking them out of the oven because it thickens up nicely. Let it sit for just a bit and the sauce thickens up and becomes creamy and delicious. I snapped a few photos for you to see below. If you've been missing Mexican food...tonight is the night that ends...forever. I promise you that you will be in "grain-free Mexican heaven" with these! LOL I've included the recipe below. Enjoy!




Chicken & cheese filling, grain-free tortillas and creamy sauce to top the casserole before baking
Rolled and ready
Topped with sauce and final layer of cheese...ready to be baked
Fresh out of the oven
BOOM!

White Chicken Enchilada Casserole (Wheat/Grain/Gluten Free)

Ingredients:

8 to 10 6-inch grain free tortillas
2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or pepper-jack cheese for added spiciness) 
2 tablespoons butter
6 ounces brick style cream cheese
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies, drained

For the tortillas:
1 cup egg whites or Egg Beaters
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ground golden flax
4 teaspoons finely grated Parmesan
Dash of sea salt
Generous dash of ground chipotle chile (or other seasoning of choice such as smoked paprika, etc.)

Directions:

To make the tortillas:
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl to form a smooth, thin batter (makes approximately 1-1/2 cups batter). Lightly spray an 8 or 10-inch non-stick skillet with olive oil spray and heat over medium-high heat. Pour a few tablespoons batter into hot skillet, tilting the pan and using a circular motion to evenly distribute the batter in the bottom to make an approximate 6-inch tortilla. Cook approximately 1 to 2 minutes, until very lightly browned and cooked around edges. Carefully loosen and flip using a rubber spatula; cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat for remaining tortillas (lightly re-spraying pan for each). Add a little additional water if batter needs to be thinned to swirl around the skillet. Makes approximately 8 to 10 6-inch tortillas.

To assemble the casserole:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x13" casserole dish
2.  Mix shredded chicken and 1 cup cheese in a large bowl. Divide mixture evenly and roll up in tortillas and place seam side down in casserole dish.
3.  In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in cream cheese and cook on low until melted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in broth and simmer over medium heat, whisking until smooth and slightly thickened and bubbly, stirring frequently.   
4.  Stir in sour cream and green chilies and heat just until hot; do not to boil.
5.  Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese.
6.  Bake approximately 25 minutes or until bubbly; run under broiler for a few minutes until cheese is light golden brown.

     

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks scrumptious. What do you do with the egg yolks???

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi there,

I typically use Egg Beaters so I don't have to worry about the yolks. If you wanted to, you could toss them in with eggs when you make scrambled eggs, etc. I have tried making the tortillas with whole eggs (including the yolk), but the tortillas seem more fragile and crack when rolling them. If you wanted to do a "test tortilla" with a whole egg, you could try and see if you have better luck than me! ;-)

Miranda said...

Hi. Have you ever made the tortillas without the ground flax? I was going to make this for dinner but I don't have any flax.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Miranda,

I haven't made them without flax. If you have any chia seeds, you could grind them and probably swap them out for the flax. If you try it without the flax, let me know how they turn out for you. Thanks! :-)

Patti said...

Enchiladas in the oven right now!! I can't wait to taste your recipe

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Patti,

Yay! I hope you enjoy them. I had one leftover for lunch today...enjoy! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Patti,

Yay! I hope you enjoy them. I had one leftover for lunch today...enjoy! :-)

M.Caker said...

I would love to make this recipe. Do you know the carb, sugar, calorie count per serving?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi M. Caker,

I calculated it way back when I first started but did not keep that info because it was low carb. Here is the nutrition calculator I like to use and you can divide it between the number of servings you make and eat. Net carbs are "total carbs minus fiber". :-) http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

Anonymous said...

I'm allergic to almonds. What can be substituted?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Anonymous,

You might be able to substitute sunflower seed flour (ground/powdered sunflower seeds). Here's a youtube link for making sunflower flour. Hope that helps. :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOEjQ2fvglM

Unknown said...

This looks fabulous! I can't wait to try these this week. And those tortillas sound like they're a breeze! Thanks for sharing your recipe on the Wheat Belly Facebook page. I can't wait to try some of your other recipes either.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Tara,

Hope you enjoy it. Once you get the hang of swirling and "jerking" the batter around in your non-stick pan, it is a breeze. Make sure your pan is hot enough or it's like making pancakes where the first one isn't too pretty! I've been "Wheat Bellying" for over 2-1/2 years now so my recipes are WB friendly. ;-)

unter der laterne said...

this is a nice dish to prepare for a sick friend.
Can I use my tortilla press?
Hard to answer if you do not have one, Ayla ? !

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Barbara,

I do not have a tortilla press, but have considered getting one. I think you would need a much thicker dough to use in the press...this is more similar to a crepe type batter.

Robin said...

Not low-carb I take it?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Robin,

Au contraire...this is most definitely low carb! :-)

Unknown said...

I love your recipes, but would it be possible to put the breakdown sin here for fat/protein/carbs ratio?? I do keto and would really like to see the breakdowns...way to hard to guess on a recipe like this.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Lorraine,

Thank you. Here is the recipe nutrition calculator I like to use: http://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

I actually think it is safest to calculate it yourself and not necessarily rely on what others post. I won't name names, but in the past when I've actually tested some of the numbers others post, I've found some stats questionable (usually reported lower in carbs than they actually are). I like the link I posted above but know others like "my fitness pal" or "spark people", etc. I do occasionally post the carbs/sugars but don't always do so. If there is something specific you'd like help with, I'll gladly do so. :-)

Nicole said...

This was delicious! Even my picky 5-year-old and 7-year-old loved it, which is saying a lot. I was worried that making the tortillas would be a lot of work, but it all came together so easy. Thanks for the great recipe!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Nicole,

I'm so happy you liked it...especially the little ones who can sometimes be hard to please.

Making something that even the kids like is always a good thing. Glad the tortillas were easy for you to make, too. Now you can begin sneaking a few veggies into the enchiladas and they'll never know! ;-)

Uptown Girl said...

This turned out absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Uptown Girl,

Thanks so much. I'm so happy you enjoyed it! :-)

Unknown said...

I love this recipe! When I made the tortillas this time, I used a very scant 1/4 tsp of xantham gum and another Tbsp of water. They were perfect! Much easier to flip. Also, I make mine with Egg Beater brand egg whites.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Jane,

So happy you love this recipe...it is definitely one of my favorites too. Great suggestion on adding the xanthum gum...I'm sure it helps make them more pliable and easier to work with. Some people are funny about using it but I don't mind using it because it is such a tiny amount and when spread over the number of servings it is almost nothing. I think some have bad experiences using it because they add too much also. I use Egg Beaters most of the time to make mine. I'll have to give your suggestion a try next time I make them to see the difference. Great tip though -- and hopefully it will help others that might have trouble flipping them. :-)

Anonymous said...

I made this dish for dinner last night and it was delish! My husband raved about it, calling it "a keeper." I used whole eggs and didn't have a problem. I will definitely be making this again.