Honey Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas

Welcome to this month's secret recipe club recipe!  I had the good fortune of being assigned to make a recipe from The Double Dipped Life.  Krista has a  lot of yummy-looking recipes on her blog, including one for Brazilian Cheese Rolls, which I was first going to make for the SRC, but it was already used by her only a few months ago for her contribution to the SRC.  Even though there is no rule against it, I thought I should highlight another recipe of hers so I went digging just a tad more to come up with her recipe for Honey Chipotle Chicken.  Krista presents only the chicken and sauce, allowing her own Dear Readers the opportunity to play it forward, so to speak, by offering suggestions on how to use the prepared chicken.  I quickly zeroed in on "enchiladas."  Since I happened to have a leftover rotisserie chicken chillin' in the fridge, this was a perfect opportunity to create a new meal.

Chipotle peppers, in case I haven't mentioned them before, are smoky and spicy.  If saltines set your mouth on fire, cut back to 1/2 a chipotle pepper and reduce the adobo sauce to 1 teaspoon (or replace with mild taco sauce).  Green enchilada sauce, on the other hand is quite mild so don't hold back there.  Speaking of enchilada sauce, I think next time I'll add some red enchilada sauce to the filling as well and/or top the green sauce topping with a line of red for color.

By the way, I took the one enchilada to work the next day.  I nuked it, and while it wasn't crisp at all, it was still quite tasty.  If you plan to serve these babies as leftovers, reheat uncovered in the oven at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes.   

Honey Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas
Adapted from: The Double Dipped Life
Yield: 6-12 enchiladas (depending upon how much filling you use for each)

2 Tbl. olive oil
4 Tbl. honey
3 Tbl. fresh lime juice (about 1 medium-sized lime)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 tsp. adobo sauce (from the chipotle pepper in adobo sauce)
2 tsp. finely chopped garlic (bottled okay)
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1 (10 oz.) can green enchilada sauce, divided
1 whole rottiserie chicken, skinned, boned and chopped (3-4 cups)
2 Tbl. olive oil
6-12 flour tortillas
2 Tbl. cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Use the olive oil to heavily grease a large rimmed baking pan.  Set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the next 6 ingredients (honey through black pepper).  Stir in 2 tablespoons of the enchilada sauce.
 
Gently mix in the chopped chicken until the chicken is completely coated with the sauce.

Take one tortilla and gently smoosh one side around in the prepared baking pan to pick up some of the oil.














Then add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture along the diameter of the tortilla.

Fold over one edge, then roll up tightly.

Lay enchilada, seam side down, in the pan.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas.  Use the back of a spoon to make sure the exposed tortillas are moistened.  This helps to prevent burning while the filling heats up.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the enchiladas are crisped and gently toasted to your liking.

The red stuff is yesterday's beets.  I like fusion dinners.

Plate 1 to 2 enchiladas per person.  Plate 3-4 enchiladas per teen.  Sprinkle on the cilantro, if using, and serve warm.

Disclaimer - because this recipe is part of an online cooking group, the linked recipes below might not be kosher.