Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

The kiss of death here at The Sweet Life is for me to mention something I plan to make. Inevitably, I never get around to making it, or I post it much later. I've been talking about making something "honey-lime" for about two weeks now...and here's the final result...finally! Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas!

I don't really know why I decided I wanted to try the "honey-lime" flavor profile. I've been using a lot of honey lately in my cooking (marinades, etc.), and the idea just hit me while I was in Kroger one day. I had no idea what I'd end up making with this flavor profile, but I knew I could find something online. I originally kind of planned to make some kind of a marinade for flank steak, but I stumbled along these enchiladas instead. They come from The Sisters' Cafe, which is a great little blog! It belongs to a group of five sisters who take turns posting delicious recipes. They've got a little bit of everything to choose from, and they've become one of my "go-to" sites when I want to try something new.

The recipe is super-simple to prepare. The toughest part of the whole thing was finding the green enchilada sauce at Wal-Mart! I finally found it on the clearance aisle. I guess folks in rural Kentucky don't eat a lot of green enchilada sauce. David and I had these last Saturday, after a very busy day of doing...nothing! They were the perfect ending to a perfect, lazy Saturday with my husband!

Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Brittany, of The Sister's Cafe

Marinade:

6 Tbs. honey

4 1/2 Tbs. fresh lime juice (I just juiced 2 limes)

1 Tbs. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Enchiladas:

1 lb. shredded cooked chicken

flour tortillas

Mexican cheese blend, shredded

10 oz. green enchilada sauce

Mix first 4 ingredients together and toss with shredded chicken. Let it "marinate" for at least a half hour (I let it marinate for most of a day). Pour some green enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 10x10 casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese. Pour the rest of the can of green enchilada sauce over enchiladas then sprinkle with more cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Put it under the broiler at the end to make the cheese brown and crispy on the top.)

Dinner In a Hurry/Healthy Makeover: Quesadillas

Sorry guys...no Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies today. This chickie is starting to get chunky, so we've got to lay off the sweets for a little bit. Thank goodness the TWD rules have been loosened up for the summer!

One night last week, in order to make use of some of the leftovers that were taking over our fridge, David and I had quesadillas. There are two things I really like about quesadillas: they're quick and easy to prepare, and you can lighten them up pretty easily without compromising flavor.
I made them in a cast-iron skillet, which is definitely the way to go. Before assembling the quesadillas, I very lightly coated one side of the tortillas with canola oil with a pastry brush. That side went down in the dry skillet, just until bubbles started to form. While the first side was browning, I brushed the other side. By the time I brushed the second side, the tortilla was ready to flip. When both sides were nicely browned, I filled the quesadillas with fat-free refried beans (YUM!), taco meat, 2% milk shredded Mexican cheese, onion, and black olives. I just filled one side and then folded the other side over, omlette-style.
I gave them a light press on each side, just to be sure that they got nice and toasty. I served them on a bed of shredded lettuce and topped them with salsa and reduced-fat sour cream. They were absolutely delicious, and they were a lighter version of a potentially high-fat, high-calorie meal.You can fill your quesadillas with absolutely anything you want. I'm thinking about trying to make some buffalo chicken quesadillas sometime before too long. Mmmm... What ideas do you have for quesadillas?