CrockPot Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Spicy, Buffalo-wingy goodness right there!

My husband loves all things Buffalo. As in the wings, not the city. I've seen him put Buffalo sauce on just about anything, sometimes to the point of making me gag. So, I thought he would be really excited about these tacos when I pitched him the idea last night while he was at work.
"Eh, okay," he says.
"REALLY? That's all the excitement I get for BUFFALO chicken tacos?"
"It's just that we have tacos all the time . . . "
Hmm, he does have a point. Tacos are my go-to meal when I can't come up with anything more creative. "But these have BUFFALO sauce!"
"Okay, we can try them," his final answer.
GRRR.

I made them anyway because, let's face it, I can't come up with elaborate, time-consuming meals every stinkin' day, so Buffalo chicken tacos were happening. Well, his immediate response after the first bite solidified my genius:
"You were SO right! I will never doubt you again. Oh my gosh, so good!" Yes, that is what he actually said. I'm right. Of course, haha! Never doubt the wife!

Now I'm going to bask in the glory of my husband telling me I'm right (I am almost always right, but he rarely admits it) while I attempt to clean the Buffalo sauce off of every surface in my kitchen.

Oh, and if you like Buffalo sauce, try this one. It's definitely a keeper in our house!

Being right sure looks good.

CrockPot Buffalo Chicken Tacos

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used frozen and it worked great!)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4-1 cup Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce (I used 1 cup with 3 breasts, 3/4 cup would have been plenty)
3 tablespoons melted butter
Corn tortillas
Oil for frying
Chunky blue cheese dressing
Coleslaw mix
Green onions, chopped
LOTS of napkins!

Spray your crock with oil-I use a Misto with olive oil, but Pam would work fine. Place chicken breasts in the crock and sprinkle with black pepper. Mix Frank's RedHot and melted butter together and pour over the breasts. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until chicken shreds easily with a fork.

Remove chicken from the CrockPot and shred with two forks. Put the chicken back into the hot sauce mixture and stir. Turn to high and leave the lid off for 10 minutes. The chicken will be very juicy and doesn't thicken much, hence the need for lots of napkins!

Meanwhile, heat the oil in skillet and quick fry your tortillas. We use a cast-iron skillet on medium heat and do about 30 seconds a side. You could also use flour tortillas, if you don't want the mess and hassle of frying.

Serve tacos with coleslaw, chunky blue cheese dressing, and chopped green onions. Enjoy!

Our Favorite Salsa

Best salsa EVER!

This is far and away the best salsa I've ever had and I don't have to go anywhere special to get it, which I love! You could easily use fresh tomatoes, when in season, but Hunt's canned tomatoes are delicious and very, very fresh tasting. This might be one of the easiest recipes I make, but it is always a crowd pleaser!

I have blogged this salsa before here, but I felt like it merited another post. I make this at least once a month and even more frequently in the summer. Hubby's co-workers request it and so do our friends any time we're going to a potluck or BBQ. I've had quite a few requests for the recipe lately, so I though that this would be a good chance to write about it again and (hopefully) get a better photo of it. So, here it is again. Enjoy!

Our Favorite Salsa
*Slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman

1 28-oz. can Hunt's whole tomatoes, drained (or 2 14.5-oz. cans)
2 cans RoTel tomatoes and peppers, drained (you can use any combination of mild, medium, or hot)
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 whole jalapeños, quartered and thinly sliced (remove ribs and seeds to lower the level of spiciness)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 heaping teaspoon cumin
1 bunch of cilantro, stems removed
1/2 lime, juiced or 1 1/2 teaspoons of lime juice

Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until you reach the desired consistency. Taste to test for seasoning. Add more sugar or salt, as necessary-I usually add a small pinch more of each.

Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavors to marry. Enjoy!

Creamy Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

Whenever my mom makes enchiladas, she makes my brother do the "enchilada dance." Imagine a 6'3", 120 pound special needs kid dancing around in his rather spastic way and giggle a little because he can be so stinking funny and he'll do just about anything for enchiladas. Now, I'm sure my mom's enchiladas are delicious, but I don't eat them because they have ground beef in them, and I have been participating in a ground beef boycott for many years. Not that I have a political issue with ground beef, but it's yucky, so we don't get along. NO ground beef! But when someone does the enchilada dance, you have to make the enchiladas, so what do you do when you refuse to eat the ground up moos? (Moos are cows, in case you didn't spend your childhood hanging out with little Hubby.) You find a recipe for creamy green chili chicken enchiladas from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Oh yum. This is my new favorite enchilada recipe! Chicken, green chilies, black beans, and a creamy green chili sauce? Oh yum. Again. You should make this now, because it's amazing. Trust me. And thanks Mel's Kitchen Cafe!

Update: I've been making this recipe for years now and have edited it a bit as I've seen fit. My whole family LOVES this dish. The 4-year-old and the 1-year-old scarf this down. It's delicious. I really love to serve it with a light salad and some Mexican rice. Yum!

Creamy Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

*Slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Filling:

3 cups cooked, chopped chicken

2 4-ounce cans whole green chilies, lightly drained and diced

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cubed

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Handful of cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1/2 of a lime

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons flour

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 7-ounce cans green enchilada sauce

2/3 cup sour cream

2-3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

8-10 soft taco size flour tortillas

Fresh chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 375º. In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, green chilies, lime juice, and cilantro. Mix well.

Add the chicken and black beans. Mix to combine and set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 5-6 minutes until translucent, then add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk. Cook until the mixture has thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from heat and stir in sour cream and enchilada sauce. Spray a 4-quart (or 15x10 inch) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread about 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the dish. Fill each tortilla with about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture.

Top with a small handful of cheese. Save about 1 cup of cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Roll the tortilla up and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Continue filling the enchiladas until the dish is full. You might have some leftover filling, which is good with tortilla chips! Pour the white sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

Top with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbling. Broil for a few minutes to brown up the cheese. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top and serve. Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Taquitos

My little brother, Jake, loves chicken taquitos. The boy can eat a whole plateful in a sitting (and he never gains a pound-punk . . . ) with jalapeno cheese dip and then is a happy camper. When I saw this recipe from Our Best Bites, I knew I had to try it, if only for my brother. Well, no surprise, these were absolutely amazing. They tasted just like the ones from the box, except they were more fresh-tasting and spicy and crunchy and delicious. Nick is adamant that these are his new number one. He has asked me at least 4 times since making them when I'm going to the store to get more cilantro so I can make them again. I also took some over for Jake to try and now my mom's asking me for the recipe because he liked them so much. The best part: if you have cooked shredded chicken, this dish comes together in a matter of minutes.

Baked Chicken Taquitos
**Makes 14-16 Taquitos
*From Our Best Bites

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa verde
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 green onion, thinly sliced (white and green parts, equal to 2 tablespoons)
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup pepperjack cheese, shredded
Small yellow or white corn tortillas
Kosher salt
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Mix the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the cilantro and green onion. Mix and add the chicken and cheese.

Place 3-4 tortillas between 2 damp paper towels and microwave 30-45 seconds, until they are soft and won't crack. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on each tortilla, keeping it a 1/2 inch from the sides.

Roll up the tortillas as tightly as possible; use toothpicks if necessary. Place them seam side down on the baking sheet. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with KOSHER salt (makes a big difference, trust me).

Bake 15- 20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to brown. Enjoy with restaurant style salsa!

Mexican Lasagna

So every morning I spend about a half an hour (sometimes it's more like an hour . . . ) reading my favorite food blogs. It's really amazing to see a recipe go from ingredients and steps to a finished product and getting the notes in between from people who know what they are doing. A recipe book is a great resource, but it can be very impersonal. In consequence, I enjoy making recipes from the blogs much more than from a cookbook. This recipe is from one such blog, and a very well known blog at that. The Pioneer Woman has not once steered me wrong and I have quite a few of her recipes written in my personal cookbook. This Mexican Lasagna was one such recipe and I'm so glad I made it! It definitely earns a spot on our regular rotation (if I ever get back into a regular rotation . . . there are so many new recipes to try!)

For the record, I did change this recipe a little bit. The first thing I did was cut it in half. She wasn't kidding that it could feed an army! The second thing I did was use a boxed Spanish rice mix instead of making my own. And finally, I used roasted chicken breast instead of ground beef. I don't eat ground beef, which is why you will never see it in any recipe I make. I'll give you my recipe, and you can check out the link to see The Pioneer Woman's version.

Mexican Lasagna
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

3 Chicken breasts, roasted (directions to follow)
Taco seasoning (chili powder, paprika, and cumin)
Red pepper flakes
Box of Spanish rice mix
1 15-oz. can black beans
1 16.8-oz. jar salsa verde
flour tortillas
1-2 cups of frozen corn, cooked (or a can of corn, drained)
1 package Mexican blend cheese
1 10-oz. jar enchilada sauce
Sour cream, cilantro for garnish

To roast the chicken: Place each piece of chicken in a foil packet. Pinch the ends, but leave the top open. Pour in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Roll the top of the foil closed. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove from packets, shake off excess oil and shred with two forks. Prepare rice per package directions. I added red pepper flake and a little bit of taco seasoning to up the flavor. While that's cooking, drop the shredded chicken in large skillet over medium-high heat. Dump in a 1/4 cup of taco seasoning and 2/3 cup water along with a little red pepper flake. Let the water cook down, stirring occasionally.

Add black beans to the rice mixture (I forgot to do this!) and then start layering in a greased 13x9 inch pan. First, spread a layer of salsa verde. Cover with a layer of tortillas. Overlapping is okay. Spread on half of the rice mixture.

Spread half the cheese on top of that. Then add another layer of tortillas and pour on the enchilada sauce, spreading it around evenly.

Add the chicken then the corn then the remaining rice and salsa verde.

Top with the rest of the cheese and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and fresh cilantro for garnish.