Almost Instant Trader Joe's White Chicken Chile Enchilada Casserole

[I'm still out of commission, but, with a touch of Advil, I'm finally posting a whole mess of entries that have been in "draft" status...]

Michelle, another roommate, has mentioned on occasion her mom's white chicken enchilada casserole that is made of a shredded rotisserie chicken, cheese, tortillas, and condensed cream of mushroom soup. Not only are the ingredients simple, it's prepared in a lasagna-like fashion and baked 'till bubbly.

When a coworker told me she'd be in the neighborhood to shop at the Trader Joe's I had no need to shop, but I thought I'd use the occasion to try to create my own white enchilada casserole.

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

I found all but one of my main ingredients at TJ's: the mushroom soup. Trader Joe's tries to carry holiday seasonal items (box stuffing, fried onion, etc), they do not carry anything close to cream of condensed anything. I took it upon myself to create a bechamel sauce with green chiles instead. Since the chiles at TJ's are extremely mild, I used garlic salt as my instant flavor booster.

Layering Ingredients

1 pack fresh corn tortillas
1 pack grilled chicken strips
1/2 bag fancy shredded Mexican (cheese) blend

White Chile Sauce Ingredients [Substitution: Can of condensed soup (mushroom or cheese) & 1-2 cans milk]

2/3 stick of butter
4 T of flour
3 cups of milk (I go for whole milk for bechamel - add 1 more cup of milk and another can of chiles if you want a lot of gravy in the casserole)
garlic salt
ground black/white pepper
1 can fire roasted diced green chile

How-To

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

1. Sauce: Melt butter, slowly whisk in flour on med-low heat until everything is incorporated, whisk in milk slowly to maintain a lump-free consistency, add in chiles, and season with garlic salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Shred or pulse the cooked chicken in a food processor (yields two cups of chicken in a processor)

3. Assemble sauce, tortilla, cheese, and chicken casserole layers in a 9" x 9" or 9" x 13" baking dish. I recommend a smaller dish and going for more layers - the bigger dish really stretches the recipe.

4. Layering tips: Start with a little sauce in the bottom of the pan. The final, top layer should consist of sauce and shredded cheese. The rest of the order is just up to you.

4. Bake in 350-degree F oven for at least 30 minutes or when the dish is heated through.

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines