Chicken, Black Bean, Pineapple Enchiladas

This recipe was adapted from one I found in Candace Cameron Bure's book, Reshaping It All:  Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness (co-author Darlene Schacht).  It looked so good that I had to try it, but I returned the book to the library yesterday, so I just remembered the basic ingredients and went from there.  I will mention that I absolutely hate red enchilada sauce.  Not sure why, but it has never been my favorite thing.  Therefore, when I make enchiladas, I generally invent my own sauce, and, healthy or no, I usually gravitate toward a cream based version. 

I really like the creaminess and flavor of enchilada sauce made with cream of mushroom soup, with plain yogurt instead of sour cream, and a little neufchatel cheese for some thickness and flavor.  One thing that I generally always cook with, especially when making enchiladas, tacos, fajitas, etc., is cilantro.  I love my cilantro and wield it generously throughout my kitchen, but I haven't been grocery shopping since we got back from vacation and we don't have any! :(  I think these are still going to be very good enchiladas, I am just a big fan of cilantro...ah well, next time they will be even better!

Ingredients:
Chicken - I had probably 4 pounds of chicken to work with here
Black Beans - 2 cans
Pineapple Tidbits (Crushed would probably work too, would just have more juice), drained - 1 Large Can
Rice - I made 2 cups for the amount of chicken that I had
Olive Oil for sauteeing
 Garlic - I use the refrigerated kind from the grocery store because it keeps better than fresh
CILANTRO

Sauce:
Garlic
Onion
Green Chiles
Cream of Mushroom Soup - 1 can
Plain Yogurt - about 2 cups
Neufchatel - 1/2 - 1 package
Pepper (No salt because the soup is salty)
Paprika
CILANTRO
1/2 lid (a Tablespoon or two) of instant coffee - don't laugh, it adds a depth of flavor and I use it quite often
Milk to thin the sauce - to the consistency you want


I cooked my chicken ahead of time, actually boiling it in a little water till it was white and tender all the way through.  After it cooled, I transferred the pieces of meat into a bowl and double fork shredded them, using the chicken water to cook my rice, giving it a little extra flavor.

 I had pulled my tortillas from the freezer the night before so they could thaw, and I made sure they were ready before going on the rest of the prep work.  I chopped a green pepper (and a half, because we had an extra half just lying around), and dropped it in the skillet to take a spin through the olive oil.  I pulled it out and dropped it into the bowl with the chicken, then chopped my onion, cooking it in a little olive oil till translucent.  You can see where I added the garlic on top of the onions in the last picture.

 I really struggled to get a picture of the onions in the skillet, and the light was just too dark, so here they are, all cooked and ready to go!

I drained my pineapple (when cooking with pineapple, the juice is my favorite treat), and my beans, and dumped them all into the chicken mix. 

 Adding the rice, I mixed this all together really well, then set it aside to go make the sauce.

 I "borrowed" some of the onions for the sauce, and put them back into the skillet with some garlic, green chiles, a can of cream of mushroom soup, half a container of plain yogurt, a package of neufchatel (actually I only had a little over half a package), pepper (no salt needed because the soup is salty), paprika, and instant coffee, stirring until the cheese melted and it became thick and bubbly. 

 Then I added some milk to thin and smooth it out a little, mixing it and cooking it some more until it was well blended. 

 Sometimes I make "lasagna like" layers with my enchiladas, which is what I did in the freezer batch (yep, this recipe made enough that I made a huge pan for my family, and an aluminum steamer pan full to freeze for another time).  This time I filled each tortilla with the mixture, a little sauce, and some cheese, then I covered the whole pan with another layer of the mixture, some sauce, and some shredded cheese.

 

 Covered it with foil, popped it in the fridge, and will throw it in the oven when we get home from church at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes till the cheese is all gooey and melty.

I'll try to post some pics of my family enjoying this meal if it isn't devoured to swiftly for photos!

Have a great time with this recipe, and share some comments about how your family liked it, or any tailoring that you did!