Honey-Lime Enchiladas

If summer were to make an enchilada, it would be something like this. With all the cheese, I think of enchiladas as being very heavy, and certainly a cold-weather food. But not these guys. They’re light, and fresh, and bright. That will only make sense when you try them..

These enchiladas were the perfect blend of sweet and savory with a hint of tart from the lime juice. Truly amazing.

And husband-approved.

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Honey-Lime Enchiladas adapted from Cassie Craves and Good Thymes & Good Food, originally from What’s for Dinner?

5 Tbsp honey
5 Tbsp lime juice, from 2-3 limes
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
10 flour tortillas
4 oz Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup 2% Colby/Monterrey Jack blend, shredded
16 oz. green enchilada sauce
1 cup fat-free half & half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and mix the first five ingredients together. Toss with shredded chicken and refrigerate; allow to marinade for at least 1/2 hour. After marinading, stir in 2% Colby/Monterrey Jack cheese.

Using 1/2 cup enchilada sauce, coat the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken/cheese mixture, then roll up the filled tortillas and place in bottom of pan.

Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the half and half. Pour sauce on top of rolled enchiladas and sprinkle with Monterrey Jack cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue to bake for 10 more minutes. If the tops of the enchiladas are not browned, broil at 500 F for 1-2 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Yield: 5 servings (2 enchiladas each).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 476 calories; 13.8 g. fat; 69 mg. cholesterol; 930 mg. sodium; 59.4 g. carbohydrate; 5.6 g. fiber; 23.8 g. protein

Result: These taste just as they describe – honey & lime! And, it works! I did reduce the honey a tad and I made some major modifications to “clean” things up from the original version. Firstly, fat-free half and half in place of heavy cream. Right there is a HUGE savings of calories and saturated fat. I also used 4 ounces of Monterrey Jack with 2 ounces of 2% shredded cheese in place of 16 ounces (a pound) of full-fat Monterrey Jack — a savings of over 1,000 calories…200 calories per serving. And again, a ton of saturated fat. Next time I would like to try making fresh enchilada sauce with tomatillos versus purchasing prepared enchilada sauce, as this is where the majority of sodium came from. I think all of the modifications made huge caloric cuts in the totals and as usual, sacrificed little to no flavor. Delicious…enjoy!

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I am so glad yesterday is over. Just about everything went wrong yesterday and I left work and just had a good cry on my way home. Sometimes that is just what a girl needs. Lucky for me, I got to class and an old student of mine brought me raspberry sorbet as a thank you for writing him a letter of recommendation. So sweet! And he said he used half the amount of sugar. It was perfect! Thanks, A! 😀 I told him last night he made my day – so true! And the sorbet is amazing…I had a big dip when I got home from teaching 😉

Tonight starts a new weight management class that my private practice is running as more of a “support group”. It sounds like a great group of 11 women who are eager to improve their diets and increase their activity! I can’t wait for 5:30PM!

I promise to catch up with everyone soon — sorry for being MIA, this weekend/week has been insanely busy. I’m glad I have recipes in queue to share 😉

Question: What’s your favorite flavor of sorbet?

P.S. Be SURE to stop by tomorrow for my blogiversary…..LOTS of giveaways!! 😀

Happy day,