You’ve invited friends for dinner Saturday night, but you’re tied up with soccer games and dance lessons right up to their ETA. For a great do-ahead dinner, try a Tex-Mex feast that you can pre-assemble early that morning or even the night before.
When your guests arrive, pop the three main dishes in the oven, pass around the chips and salsa, fire up that margarita blender and enjoy your company!
Be sure your guests can handle spicy foods – this is a hot one! To tone it down, leave out the jalapeno in the enchiladas and reduce the number of poblano peppers in the black beans and rice. Poblanos are mild, so do use a few of them – they’re delicious. This menu serves about six.
Menu
Margaritas
Chips and Salsa
Chicken Enchiladas
Black Beans and Rice
Roasted Corn Confetti
Chicken Enchiladas
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 8 fresh Anaheim chilies
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 ¼ cups chopped onion, divided
- 1 14-1/2 ounce can low-salt chicken broth
- 4 ounces tomatillos, husked, rinsed and quartered
- 1 jalapeno chili, seeded, coarsely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, divided
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 12 6-inch corn tortillas
- 2 ¼ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped
Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces. Sprinkle with cumin seeds and cook with a little oil in a large pan, stirring until just cooked through. Char the Anaheim chilis in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in a paper lunch sack for about 10 minutes. Peel, seed and cut chilies into medium pieces.
Combine broth, 1/2 cup onion, tomatillos, jalapeño and garlic in medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer to blender. Cool to room temperature. Add the prepared Anaheim chilis, cilantro and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Whisk in sour cream. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9x13-inch baking dish. Warm tortillas by wrapping loosely in damp paper towels and cooking in microwave on high for 1 minute. Working with 1 warm tortilla at a time, dip tortillas into sauce; shake excess sauce back into bowl. Place tortillas on work surface. Spoon scant 1/4 cup chicken, 2 tablespoons cheese and 1 tablespoon onion down center of each. Roll up tortillas. Arrange enchiladas, seam side down, in dish. Repeat with remaining 6 tortillas. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover enchiladas, remaining sauce and cheese separately. Chill.) Before baking, top enchiladas with remaining sauce, then cheese. Bake enchiladas uncovered until heated through, about 20 minutes (or 30 minutes if enchiladas have been refrigerated). Sprinkle tomatoes over and serve.
Black Beans and Rice
- 2 cups white rice, cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 2 poblano peppers
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Char whole peppers in broiler, turning as each side begins to blacken and bubble. Immediately place charred peppers in a brown paper lunch sack, close and set aside for 10-15 minutes. Peel skin off the peppers, seed and cut into strips. Saute onions in oil. Spread onions and pepper strips onto bottom of a 9x13 glass dish. Layer rice on top. Next layer black beans. Top with cheese. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until top begins to brown and edges begin to bubble.
Roasted Corn Confetti
For a quicker side dish, use canned corn.
- 6 ears sweet corn
- 2 red peppers, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- A handful of cilantro, chopped
Parboil the corn until just beginning to get tender. Let cool. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cobs. Place corn in roasting pan with peppers, onion and garlic. Bake at 400 degrees until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with cilantro.
For more Tex Mex recipes, see Southwest Pozole Dinner Menu and Vegetarian Enchiladas.
