I am all about easy dinner because, let’s face it, the hours of 4 to 6 p.m. are usually the hardest of the day. Truly, if I haven’t planned ahead, my husband usually comes in to find me with a blank face, frozen as solid by panic as the meat I just pulled out of the deep freeze. Meanwhile, my children run around howling very much like the Lost Boys prancing around the fire in Peter Pan.
It’s chaos and all too often results in take out.
But, Southern Living is here to help.
I just received a copy of 5 Ingredient Weeknight Meals: Delicious Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less.
Could a title EVER be more appealing?
The book is filled with simple recipes that sound delicious. Of course, they often require more than five ingredients, but many of those are pantry staples, which are outlined at the beginning of the book.
Last night, I made Chicken Enchilada Suizas from page 174. They were easy and quick and quite tasty (though a bit spicy for the kids…fyi…substituting something milder for the pepper jack would probably solve that!).
First, I baked a bunch of chicken. ( I actually did this the day before and will be using the remainder of the chicken this week in other meals…I’m already a step ahead!)
Chop six cups of chicken (which was about 4 large chicken breasts).
Mix 2 cups salsa verde with 8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese. Add chicken and mix.
Call me lazy, but I did not buy blocks of cheese as the recipe suggested. The pre-shredded kind cost the same. Quicker dinner for the same price!
Then spoon chicken mixture evenly down the center of 8 tortillas and roll up. (The amount for each tortilla was more than I expected so fill them up!) Place tortillas, seam side down, in baking dish.
Bake at 357 for 20 minutes or until tortillas are beginning to crisp.
Combine crema Mexicana or sour cream and remaining cup of salsa verde and pour over tortillas. Sprinkle remaining 8 oz. of pepper jack and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly and melted.
Enjoy!
I can’t wait to try more of the recipes, which include dinner-time versions of breakfast favorites and 3-ingredient desserts. I also plan to make the Crustless Spinach Quiche on page 137 and the Smoked Salmon, Goat Cheese and Asparagus Frittata. (Our hens have started laying…can you tell?)
If you are looking for some easy, weeknight dinner inspiration, this is the cookbook for you!
Disclosure: I received the cookbook for review. The opinions are my own.