Mexican Fiesta

So I was watching Food TV this morning, and I was watching Cooking For Real with Sunny Anderson.  She was making these manicotti stuffed shells with shredded chicken and a tomatillo salsa.  She also made a really rich Fontina Cheese sauce to go over it.  It didn’t look super healthy, but it inspired me to try a portion of it for dinner tonight.  I am thinking about using the shredded chicken, with taco seasoning, Mexican cheese, wrapped in a tortilla, put in a 9×13 pan and covered with the green salsa.  I have posted a tomatillo salsa before, but I am going to try hers because she roasts the veggies first, and then blends them in a blender until smooth. 

•  1 lb. tomatillos, paper removed, and halved
• 1 small red onion, quartered
• 1 jalapeno, sliced in half (with seeds)
• 2 cloves of garlic, whole
• 2 TB. olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste.

Basically, take all the veggies, coat them in olive oil and roast them at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Carefully place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Meanwhile, I’m going to poach about 3 chicken breasts and cool them in the fridge so its easy to shred.  Add taco seasoning, some Mexican cheese, roll them in a tortilla, placed face down in a shallow pan, cover with the sauce and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. I am also going to make Tyler Florence’s Guacamole.   

• 2 avocados
• 1.5 limes
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 Serrano chile
• fresh cilantro
• olive oil

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and using a spoon, scoop out the insides.  I like a less chunky guacamole, so I mash it a lot.  Add the lime juice of 1.5 limes, the diced red onion, the dices chile, and olive oil, and cilantro.  Place plastic wrap on top of the guacamole and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.   Check back later for pictures, I’m running to the store to get this stuff!!! Okay, its hours later, but here are the results…my dinner turned out fantastic!!Here are the ingredients for the sauce.  Tomatillos, red onion, jalapeno and garlic.My guacamole didn’t turn out… the avocados weren’t ripe enough!Here are the roasted veggies for the sauce.  I pureed them in a blender when they were done.I shredded the chicken and added taco seasoning.I took a tortilla, put some chicken in it, a little Mexican cheese, wrapped it up, placed it in the dish, poured the tomatilla sauce over it and a little more cheese.  It was a great combination of flavors!! And for dessert, a 100 calorie treat!2 Italian cookies called paizelles.  They are only 23 calories each!  I put 1/4 cup of vanilla ice cream, some sprinkles and a drizzle of chocolate sauce!