Enchiladas Suizas and Calabacitas Ralladas

This was the first dish I made from 1,000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore. I had eaten this dish in a microwaveable TV dinner format for years. I wanted to try a fresher version of the dish. Enchiladas Suizas is typically chicken enchiladas with cream and tomatillos. In some recipes the cream, either Mexican crema or sour cream, is added to the tomatillo salsa. In this recipe, they are separate. The salsa verde is added to the meat, then over the enchiladas, covered in cheese, and finally Mexican crema is drizzled on top.

I was happy to find this recipe in my newly purchased Mexican cookbook. The ingredients for this dish are chicken, tomatillos, cilantro, onion, oregano, serrano chiles, jalapeño chiles, poblano chiles, Anaheim chiles, chicken broth, honey, corn tortillas, scallions, cheese, and Mexican crema. On September 18, 2015, I made this dish. I had overdone it in physical work and strained my abdominal muscles. My Mom had to help me finish the dish. I did a few changes: I added Anaheim chiles; I replaced the serrano with jalapeños, and replaced Monterrey Jack with Mexican cheese blend. At the time I bought the Anaheims the store also had Hatch chiles. The two are related, Hatch chiles are higher on the Scoville scale. They also look identical. The spice on this made me believe I purchased Hatch not Anaheims. I loved the way it turned out.

Enchiladas Suizas 

Due to the injury I did not take a picture of this dish. It was one of two dishes I lamented not getting a picture of. I wanted to make it again for two reasons: A) I liked it a good deal, and B) I wanted a picture. On February 5, 2016, I made enchiladas Suizas again. This time I kept the jalapeños and added one serrano (seeded and veined). The original recipe calls for two serranos. I added Anaheims again, but I was sure these were really Anaheims. Like the previous time I used the shredded spiced chicken recipe, which includes ancho powder and allspice. I was able to get my picture and these turned out amazing, but not a spicy as the previous batch.

Calabacitas Ralladas

My dietitian had asked me to increase my intake of vegetables in January 2016. With the second batch of enchiladas Suizas, I served Calabacitas Ralladas, shredded Mexican zucchini. This is another recipe from 1,000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore. The recipe called for standard zucchini, but me being me I decided to use the Mexican variety of zucchini. Mexican zucchini are called calabacitas in Spanish although that term is used for all zucchini. The calabacitas are shredded with skin on like hash browns. They are sautéed with onion and oregano in olive oil. They are then garnished with cotija cheese. This dish is definitely going to be a great side dish to any Mexican entrée.

These two dishes together created a perfect meal. It spurred me to look up other recipes with calabacitas and chayote, another squash used in Latin cuisines. I even thought about using the Calabacitas Ralladas as a taco or burrito filling. Expanding my scope of Mexican dishes is part off the reason I bought Mexican Cooking for Dummies and 1,000 Mexican Recipes.