Damn these were good

Chicken Enchiladas
Living The G.I. Diet Copyright 2004

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 onions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, stemmed seeded and thinly sliced I used 1/2 red, 1/2 orange
1 green bell pepper, stemmed seeded and thinly sliced
1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed seeded and minced
1 cup diced tomatoes I used canned organic diced tomatoes
½ cup shredded light-style Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese I used Cabot's Light Pepperjack
8 large whole-wheat tortillas I used multi-grain

Toppings:
½ cup shredded light-style Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese I used Cabot's Light Pepperjack
½ cup light sour cream

1. Combine 1 tablespoon of the oil, the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and black pepper in a medium-size bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat it with the mixture. Heat the remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
3. In the same skillet over medium heat, cook the onions, bell peppers, and jalapeño pepper until tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
4. Add the chicken, tomatoes and cheese to the pepper mixture and stir to combine. Divide the filling among the tortillas and roll each of them up. Place them in a shallow 9x13-inch greased baking dish. At this point I refrigerated them overnight. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the filling is hot, about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp.
5. Sprinkle with cheese and dollop with sour cream before serving.
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This recipe is basically the same as my freestyle quesadillas. So why did these blow me away? I have no idea. Maybe because all the effort was expended the previous evening. When I make quesadillas, I make the filling the night before but I put the quesadillas together the night we eat them. I'm always in a rush since I can only make about 2 at a time on the GF grill. I only needed to pop these in the oven after work. The tortillas got nice and crispy and they had a sweetness to them (I used Mission whole grain tortillas). The flavors in the filling had melded together nicely overnight. I was really in heaven, and I have leftovers for lunch today. Yay!

This is from a GI diet cookbook. I don't follow any certain diet but I am aiming to add more good carbs and less fat so I find that the cookbooks from a lot of the popular diets are very helpful to have around. The particular low-carb books I own tend to have recipes very high in fat and calories but the GI-diet, South Beach diet, carb addict's diet, etc seem to suit us rather well.

A Blast From the Past: Chicken Enchiladas from September 2005 - one of the first recipes I blogged. They were very good too, but definitely not as healthy. They could be lightened up though, if you like a creamy enchilada.

Question of the Day: Have you ever tried a 'name-brand' diet (Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, etc)?