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.

Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad

I don’t know about where you live, but it’s been super hot and humid here. I love that it’s hot — especially since I spend most of my day as a Popsicle. You could hang meat in my office.

But the humidity? Ugh. I could definitely do without it. My A/C is working overtime and I have electric bill to prove it.

To beat the heat and cut back on my electric usage I’ve been avoiding the stove. Enter my favorite salad: Cobb Salad with Green Goddess Dressing.

I wrote about this YEARS ago and it’s still in heavy rotation.

Is it wrong to look forward to a salad all week? Not when it’s this salad. Blue cheese, grilled chicken, avocado and tomatoes — can we say YUM? There may or may not have been a bit of crumbled bacon in there, too.

I skipped the watercress because it’s hard to find near me (have to travel a ways to Whole Foods to get it) and ended up with a mix of chopped romaine and the tail ends of some bagged butter lettuce mix.

If you make nothing else, make this dressing. Really. It’s a homemade, healthy, creamy dressing that may change your life.

Vegetable Quesadillas

I've been grilling a bunch. How 'bout you?

Most nights this week it's been simple stuff like hot dogs. Last night I made some jerk chicken thighs I wasn't too crazy about. If anyone wants to suggest a good recipe for that I"ll gladly accept.

A bit ago I also made this vegetable quesadilla, which is good enough to share.

I started with a recipe.. but switched it up a bit. The original recipe calls for just raw veggies folded in a tortilla and thrown on the grill.

Maybe on fancier grills the vegetables soften before the quesadilla chars to a crisp — but on the my el cheapo $99 apartment-sized charbroil gas grill the vegetables would barely be warm let alone soft.

So.. I sauteed them first. It was a good move on my part. Worked beautifully. You could also grill them first. I would've, but I'm not a very talented grillmaster and tend to lose the vegetables between the grates.

These don't have a lot going on — so the condiments are really important. Fine by me. You can really taste the vegetables, plus quesadillas are really just a method of putting salsa and sour cream into my mouth.

Get the recipe on Everyday Food. And, if you couldn't tell — I skipped the corn relish. I've been feeling a bit lazy lately. What can I say?

What have you been grilling?