Southwest Tater Tot Casserole

I should have known that once I got the ol' blog up and running again and was enjoying writing posts that life would happen and get in the way.  At least I'm getting this post in under the two month mark from the last one!  I feel like we've just been swamped, although a good chunk of it was fun.  In the last two months my husband and I have taken a trip to Louisville, KY for a music festival and spent a weekend in NYC to see one of our favorite people get married.  Then I fractured my ankle hiking and came down with a cold.  Plus throw in there all the day-to-day stuff like working and managing kid activities and attending said kid activities, and life is just busy.  

Basically this meme is my life...

Anyway, my oldest is in Milwaukee, WI this weekend for a choral festival, so while he's gone I was trying to come up with meals he doesn't particularly like that the rest of us do.  This Southwest Tater Tot Casserole was the first one to pop in my head.  

In the summer of 2019 we were going to housesit for some friends in the Seattle area while they went on the trip of a lifetime to China.  My youngest and I made a road trip out of it on the way there and stopped in Boise to visit my lifelong BFF and her family for a few days.  We've been friends since our ages were single digits which is pretty incredible because we are both solidly in our 40s now.  We of course had a blast with them, and I loved that our kids played together like they've known each other forever.  Our last night at their house she made this for dinner.  I absolutely love tater tot casserole and have literally been eating it since I was a kid, and my kids love it, too, so Miles and I were super excited to try this version.  Once we were back home I made it for my family and was shocked when Will didn't like it.  What the heck, man?!  So now I make it if Will isn't going to be here for dinner, although sometimes he has to suck it up and have it because it's what I want to make for dinner.

The website where the recipe originally came from isn't up anymore, so luckily I had printed off the recipe at some point.  I've changed it up a little from the recipe I printed to adjust to how my family likes it.

Southwest Tater Tot Casserole

1 package ground turkey (I buy mine at Costco in packages of four)

1 can corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 packet taco seasoning

1 large can green enchilada sauce, heat level of your choice (we like medium heat)

1-2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (Mexican blend, colby jack, cheddar, pepper jack...whatever)

1 bag frozen tater tots

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  Brown ground turkey in an ovenproof skillet sprayed with nonstick spray, seasoned with salt and pepper.  

Once the turkey is no longer pink, add in corn, black beans, taco seasoning, and 1/2 to 2/3 of the can of enchilada sauce.  Sitr to combine and let simmer on medium heat for 10-12 minutes so the flavors combine.  This will also help the enchilada sauce cook down a little.  If it looks or gets too dry, add in more enchilada sauce.

Turn off the burner and top the mixture with shredded cheese.  Arrange tater tots on top of cheese.

Move the skillet into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and tots are crispy.

Note: if you don't have an ovenproof skillet, you can use a 9x13 or 11x7 casserole dish.  Spray dish with nonstick spray and transfer skillet mixture to the casserole dish before topping with cheese.  Top with cheese then tater tots and bake as directed.

Jefferson is keeping a close eye on the skillet mixture.

Topping with tots. My husband makes fun of my symmetrical tot placement, but how else are you supposed to do it?  Throw on tots all willy-nilly?!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

I've decided to try a new format and put a picture of whatever I made at the top of the blog post. We'll see how I like it. Let me know via comment if you feel passionately about it one way or the other.

We've been having some amazing dinners lately (thank you, Pinterest.com!), but I just haven't had a chance to update my blog. Normally my blog time would be done in the afternoon while Boy #2 naps, but I've been having to workout then, so my computer time ends up getting considerably shortened. Okay, except for Pinterest because I'm marginally obsessed with it. So as I get some time here and there in the next couple weeks, hopefully I can get a few of these awesome dishes posted!

This is, of course, a recipe I found via Pinterest. It sounded fantastic just from the name and then when I read the blog post about it I knew I had to make it. I had slated it for the husband and I to have for dinner on one of our Friday date nights.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta
Source: Pears, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour blog via Pinterest.com

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 {4 oz.} can diced green chiles
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 {10 oz.} cans green chili enchilada sauce
2/3 cups red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese {I used colby & monterrey jack}
1 cup sour cream
Penne pasta

Optional toppings:
Avocado
Green Onions
Black Olives
Tomatoes
Sour Cream

Cook chicken, drain, and shred. Meanwhile boil pasta according to package and chop the veggies. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic & red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, & enchilada sauces. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Now toss in the sour cream, but whatever you do, DO NOT bring to a boil! Cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through. Drain pasta & return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well. Serve and garnish with avocado, tomato, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream.

*****

This was so, so, so, so easy. And it was so, so, so, so tasty! Obviously it made a ton, so we were eating it pretty much all week for lunch, but neither the husband nor I minded. It was that tasty! the only thing I would change would be to maybe add the cheese in before the shredded chicken. The cheese kind of made the chicken stick together in large clumps which was a little annoying.

Oh man, this was so good. Just thinking about it and typing this out makes me want it again. You know that's the sign of a good meal!

Skillet Chicken with Mexican Green Rice

I have to say I've been on a bit of a cooking roll this week. I love when that happens. I wanted to try some new things but also use up some ingredients we had on hand. I had found chicken thighs marked down recently at the grocery store and originally planned on making a recipe that involved roasting apples and chicken thighs, but since it's definitely summer here (the high temps have been in the low 100s), roasting sounded like a horrible way to cook dinner. I pulled out one of my trusty America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Supper magazines for a different idea. I found this recipe in the issue from last summer. I had always wanted to try it, but chicken thighs aren't something I usually have on hand.

Skillet Chicken with Mexican Green Rice
Source: America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers, Summer 2010

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 poblano peppers, cored, seeded, and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 14-ounce can green enchilada sauce
1 cup long-grain white rice
1-1/4 cups water
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until well browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Add onion, poblanos, and remaining oil to now-empty skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add enchilada sauce, rice, water, and any accumulated chicken juices and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Nestle chicken in rice browned side up, cover, and cook over low heat, stirring every 5 minutes, until rice is tender and chicken registers 175 degrees, about 20 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

*****

This ended up taking me more like 45 minutes than 30 because I couldn't fit all the chicken in my skillet without really crowding it and had to cook it in two batches. I was a bit worried my kiddos wouldn't like this because Boy #1 doesn't dig on spicy food, but it wasn't really spicy at all which was good. If you wanted it hotter, you could add in a minced jalapeno with the onion and poblano. I don't think I stirred mine often enough because I had some rice that stuck to the bottom of the skillet.

All in all, we really liked this. My kids ate it no problem, and the rice cooked in the enchilada sauce was really tasty. I don't know about you, but I cannot find 14 ounce cans of enchilada sauce lately, only the big 28 ounce cans. It works out okay because I freeze the other half to use later, but it sure would be nice to get just the size I need. It was actually kind of funny because I had found a bag of something dark red in my freezer recently and had no idea what it was. Then when I was packing up the remaining green enchilada sauce, I realized what was in the mystery bag--red enchilada sauce! Why I hadn't labeled it, I don't know.

Anyway, this is definitely something I'd make again! I finished up the leftovers for lunch yesterday, and they were still tasty, although the rice wasn't quite as good as it was originally.

FYI, the picture in the magainze is a lot nicer looking. Their rice isn't nearly as saucy as mine, but that's okay...I like saucy rice. And their pieces of chicken were more browned than mine.