Black Bean and Chicken Chilaquiles

I feel like those that didn't like this recipe aren't familiar with chilaquiles at all.  If this describes you, please know that they 1) aren't nachos, so don't expect them to be crispy, and 2) aren't enchiladas, so they won't be drowned in sauce.  If you are fine with a texture somewhere in-between, you may proceed.I loved these.  We had to make some modifications.  First, we cut the recipe in half (there are just two of us), and threw in the entire can of black beans (drained).  It was a bit more than half-full in an 11x7.  Queso blanco was extremely expensive at the supermarket, so we subbed a Mexican cheese blend.  We used all red onion, though it's probably awesome with yellow.  We served it with green onions, cilantro, and avocado for garnishing.  I thought the garnishes really brought the dish to the next level flavor-wise. I can see where people might call this a bit dry--some tortillas were pretty crunchy--and I think next time, we might increase the broth and/or salsa de chile fresco to 3/4 of the original recipe amount (to make a dish half the size).  However, the chicken was still moist, and the tortillas weren't anything that some extra bottled salsa on the side couldn't fix!  Other comments: the garlic is not overwhelming at all, and the El Pato has a slow-burn spiciness to it, which was unexpected and very nice.  I'm looking forward to eating these leftovers for breakfast tomorrow with a fried egg on top, which is how we do it in California!

Great week night dinner.  Used the Pato salsa de chili fresco, but added double the amount.  Put it in a 9X11" pan, so it served 8!  We put green onions, avocado and olives on top once out of the oven.  Delicious! I'm super excited there are left-overs for lunch.

This is fantastic! I couldn't believe how well the leftovers heated up. I put the chicken breasts in some chicken broth, black pepper, and a bay leaf. I poached the chicken about 15-20 min. (depending on how thick the chicken breasts were), and then shredded them. I saved the chicken broth from my cooking liquid for the broth needed in the recipe. Poaching chicken has so much flavor and it stays so juicy. I highly recommend this technique... I also added just a touch of tabasco sauce to the liquid mixture for some extra heat.

I, too, found this dish bland. I used Rick Bayless's Frontera salsa, since I couldn't find the brand it called for. Since Bayless is probably the country's premiere chef of Mexican cuisine, I doubt it was his salsa that was lacking. Rather, I think it was that the salsa got watered down too much by the chicken broth. Next time, instead of using 7 3/4 oz of salsa, I'll use the whole 15 oz that comes in the jar. Hopefully that will do the trick.

N/A

I love chilaquiles, they are my ultimate comfort food, but the original recipe is FATTENING!!! This is a great, lighter alternative. The secret is the El Pato. I can almost guarantee that anyone who thinks this dish is bland substituted the El Pato with something else, because it's super spicy and totally makes the dish. Love this, and can't wait to make it again!

A little bland, but still really good. I need to use spicier salsa next time is all! Also, I'm not sure how I feel about corn tortillas, so maybe I'll try flour tortillas next time and adjust for the calorie change. Definitely worth a try :) My boyfriend loved it and didn't say a word about it being low fat/calories.

Soooooo goooood. My husband and I have been trying to lose weight and eat healthier and I came across this recipe. I was doubtful at first but was so surprised at how amazing it turned out to be. I used wheat tortillas (just what I had on hand) instead of the corn and it was still great!

This was very good, great flavor and easy to pull together. I used Wegmans medium salsa and about 10 corn tortillas. I think that a good quality salsa is important to making this meal great; next time I will use Garden Fresh Gourmet salsa. This could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out chicken and adding extra beans. I don't think the salsa/broth mixture was totally necessary, next time I will just layer with salsa. I added fresh cilantro on top after cooking. Not something fancy enough to serve to guests, but is definately going in the rotation.

...but how do you come up with 293 calories per serving? The tortillas are 65 calories x 15 = 975, the beans are ~270 calories for a 15-oz can, the chicken is about 420 calories for two cups, the cheese is about 440 calories for 4 ounces. So without even counting the stock, salsa, onions, or garlic, that's 350 calories. Which is still pretty good, but it's not 293. I added 1 t of cumin to this recipe, doubled the onions, and added three cups of finely sliced hot and bell peppers to the onion/garlic as they sauteed. Next time I would probably increase the salsa, too. With these tweaks, this will definitely be a keeper for me.