Pork Enchiladas

Enchiladas are hands down my favorite Mexican food to make at home. They're simple, easy and it isn't difficult to make them like you'd get them in your favorite restaurant.

My favorite light enchilada recipe is Cooking Light's Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde and over the years I've made many riffs on the original recipe.

Last night, I switched it up a bit by using a red sauce instead of salsa verde and pork instead of chicken. I used canned sauce but you can certain make your own.

I made red sauce with these enchiladas. It was good, but time consuming. So I usually just buy it.

Pork Enchiladas
Serves 4

1 cup onion, chopped
1 can red enchilada sauce
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup (3 ounces) low fat cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded cooked pork (see recipe note)
8 small corn tortillas
1/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Combine the onion, enchilada sauce, garlic and cilantro in a food processor and process until smooth. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and chicken and stir in 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce mixture. Reserve the rest of the sauce.

Meanwhile, put the tortillas on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake in the oven for four minutes or until the tortillas are soft and pliable.

Remove tortillas from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425.

Fill each of the 8 tortillas with 1/4 cup of the pork mixture and roll up, placing seam side down in a baking dish coated in cooking spray. Cover the enchiladas with the rest of the sauce and top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 18 minutes, or until heated through.

Note: For the cooked pork, I used about 2 1-pound pork tenderloins, but I may use a fattier cut next time. I put them in a slow cooker, covered them with chicken broth (about a 32 ounce carton) and added some crushed red pepper, chili powder and cumin (I didn't measure.. just kind of sprinkled it in). Cook on high for 4 hours until the pork is tender enough to shred.