Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas Dairy & Gluten Free (mostly)

This enchilada recipe from the Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite homemade dishes and now that we've eliminated dairy and gluten from our diets the challenge is to find great substitutes. 

Because this recipe has so much dairy in it, I was afraid to cut it ALL out for fear that it wouldn't have enough flavor but I think it's totally doable and I will definitely try it next time. 

Here's the two ingredients that I subbed. Pepper Jack Cashew Cheese from Whole Foods for the sour cream and full fat coconut milk (the canned kind) for the heavy cream (let the can rest for at least 30 mins and spoon out the top fat into your measuring cup). I use Native Forest because it's certified Non GMO, Organic, and BPA free. 

I wasn't sure if using the coconut milk would make the enchiladas taste coconut-ty but it didn't. 

We just discovered cashew cheese a few weeks ago. Ya'll, it's so good! We dip tortilla chips in it like queso. All that's in it is cashews and seasoning and it seems really easy to make at home if you have a good blender. I'm hoping to try that soon. 

Like I said, I did keep a few "naughty" ingredients in the mix for fear that it would turn out horrible for various reasons. I kept the butter & flour because it only called for a little and I didn't want to mess up the function of the flour as a binder.  I used 1/2 c monterey jack cheese in the sauce and 1/4c shredded on top (instead of 2 1/2 c the recipe calls for) but I don't think it was necessary. I think next time I would maybe add 1/2c more cashew cheese and possibly 1/4c - 1/2c extra chicken broth so the sauce doesn't get too thick.  

I omitted the jalapeño and only used 1 4oz can of green chiles because the flavor from the pepper jack cheese was just enough of a kick for our taste. Here's a visual of the ingredients I used:

*I don't fry the tortillas in oil. I just warm them in the microwave right before assembling them. So I only use 1 TBSP of oil, usually olive.

This recipe turned out so great! Much better than I expected though it is a little time consuming. You could use a rotisserie chicken to speed it up and use store bought chicken broth but the homemade broth & chicken do have a great taste. I also use some of the leftover broth and make this green rice to go with the enchiladas. It's so good and I also made it mostly dairy free by using rice milk instead of regular milk. I did use regular butter but might try coconut butter or ghee next time and coconut milk instead of rice milk maybe. 

Since it's usually just the two of us, I always cook half and freeze the rest. They last us about 4 meals so it's totally worth all the time to cook. 

This meal tasted great (Brent even agreed) and I had NO digestive issues which it's amazing that there's an enchilada recipe I can say that about. So Good! 

Ohhhh mexican food. I miss you dearly...

For the most part, San Francisco's Mexican food has been a great disappointment. There are a few places worth going to but nothing has compared to the goodness we left behind in Texas.

The SF Effect

It reminds me of senior year of high school when I decided to play on my schools softball team. It was my first year to play softball.

The coach always told me to watch the ball. I tried, but from the time it left the pitchers hand to the time it touched the catchers glove...I never saw the ball. No matter how hard I tried. I was tired of striking out so I asked the coach to bench me (Brent says I'm a quitter...I just don't like to do things I don't enjoy or have much time to perfect).

I stopped trying new Mexican food restaurants because it's just too disappointing.

Plan B

In an effort to satisfy our need for Tex Mexican Food, I came across this recipe for Brisket Tacos. The next best thing to Mi Cocina's brisket tacos.

It's pretty easy too. Try it!

It makes a lot of food so here are a few recommendations if you're not making it for a big group and have lots of leftovers.

I know this pic does not look appetizing...but it really IS good.

Freeze it in individual ziplock bags (just enough meat for one meal) so that you only defrost what you'll use.

Shape the meat in the ziplock bag in a round shape to fit in your bowls. So you can dump it from the freezer bag to your bowl and heat it up in the microwave without it sticking out of the bowl funny. The meat will cook more evenly this way.

Try it with corn tortillas, salsa, and white cheese like monterrey jack or mozzarella.

My next undertaking....fajitas. That word is practically foreign here. I have not seen it on a menu once.

You Should Make This....

We were really missing Tex Mex and love eating Chalupas (a recipe from the Couchman's)...so I got brave and tried a new green rice recipe to go with the Chalupas. This is always risky because my friend B***t doesn't always do well with new recipes. It was SUPER good (even B***t liked it) and you need to try it ASAP! What's not to like about rice with butter, oil, milk....and you can even feel good about it because it has 1 cup of spinach in it. It would go really good with tacos or any mexican dish. You can find the recipe here.