Delicious Green Chili Casserole + Bonus Breakfast

 

This is my last post of 2018. Both the kids are coming home for Christmas; Ashlyn from Australia and Alex from Portland. There’s still lots to do and the days are counting down. I really wanted to end the year with a bang of a post – you know, something spectacular and inspiring. But just as I was about to knock myself out trying to accomplish this I realized two truths.

ONE.

There is no way I have time for a project of epic proportions.

TWO.

The last thing YOU need is to read my blog at 2 a.m., when you can’t sleep (you do that, right?) and see something so inspiring that you head off, delirious, to the craft store during the craziest, busiest time of the year. Then, you neglect yourself. You don’t bathe, your laundry overflows and every living creature you’re responsible for wonders if they will ever eat again. All this so you can complete a project that will secretly be held together with duct tape, because that’s what happens when we need things to work perfect and fast. You will mumble crafting curse words and unsubscribe from A Crafty Composition. I don’t want that. I want us all to be happy and enter into Christmas with child-like abandon and semi-controllable amounts of glitter – or at least our sanity.

No, what you really need is the same thing I need (other than a maid and masseuse) – an easy recipe that will feed a lot of people and give me two meals for one effort. That’s what I’m all about right now; saving time and beginning my week-long, holiday-induced food coma. 

So, without further ado . . . here is the MOST DELICIOUS Green Chili Chicken Casserole you will ever taste AND Garden Egg Cups for the morning. Yep. One bit of chopping and cleaning gives you a dinner and a breakfast – and possibly leftovers! 

 

INGREDIENT NOTES

You’ll find all the specifics in the printable recipe AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST but here a few things you need to know.

You need about 2 cups chicken. I usually get a rotisserie chicken, eat a drumstick, and then remove the skin and bones and chop the rest up. Lately, Safeway/Albertsons has had the rotisserie chicken already chopped up, which makes it super easy – but you don’t get the drumstick. Choices. In a pinch, you could use canned white meat chicken.  The recipe calls for a big can of green enchilada sauce AND 505 Southwestern Hatch Valley Green Chiles. Yes, there are other jarred green chiles out there. No, you should not experiment.

THESE are THE best jarred green chiles. 

 

 

 PREP NOTES

You’re going to chop the mushrooms, onions and MOST of the red peppers. Leave a few red peppers cut into long strips to decorate the top of the casserole (picture below). Reserve about 1/3 of this mixture and the flash-cooked spinach for the egg cups. I say that in the recipe but thought I would say it here too. 

You know how there are time saving steps you can skip in recipes? Well, this is not one of them. You really, really, really need to pre-cook your mushrooms, onions, red peppers and ever so slightly – the spinach. Why? Because mushrooms, onions, red peppers and spinach have a lot of moisture in them and if you don’t pre-cook them, all that water will make your casserole (and your egg cups) SAD SOGGY. Not good, delicious, soaked with flavor soggy, SAD SOGGY. So please don’t skip this; you can nibble on the drumstick during this step. 

 

This casserole goes together much like a lasagna but instead of big noodles, you are seperating the layers with corn tortillas. It make a full casserole sized dish (9×14) or, if there’s only two of you, divide it into two small casserole (6×8) dishes and freeze one for later. 

 

 

Serving Notes

Let the casserole cool about 5 minutes so all the juices can do their thing. Get yourself some Mexican Crema (usually near the sour cream in the grocery store). Mexican Crema is not as sour as sour cream and is a bit more liquidy (is that a word?) Pour a bit of the Crema over the served casserole and sprinkle with a little fresh cilantro. I serve the crema with the egg cups too. Mmmmm so very good!

 

 

The Egg Cups

These cups are super delicious and will keep in the fridge for 3 days. That means, if you can train people to make their own coffee, you could have a little sleep in. 

The cups are ridiculously simple to make because you’ve already got everything prepped (except the eggs) from the chicken casserole. I’m not sure if it’s obvious but, there is no chicken in the egg cups. That’s gross. They’re veggie only – and cheese – and egg of course. Anyway, the printable recipe below covers everything you need to know about making these. They are a fantastic time saver for the weekdays or if you throw together a little arugula or fruit salad to go beside them, they’re impressive enough for a special breakfast or brunch. 

 

 

Well lovelies – that’s it for 2018!

It’s hard to believe another year has past so quickly. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a new year full of brightness and cheer. Thank you very much for all your support through the year. I feel super blessed to have an outlet for my creativity and such a wonderful group of people to share it with. I just got my 60th subscriber this week and although that may not sound like a lot, each one of you is a positive and important part of A Crafty Composition’s journey. So, here’s to 2019. Let’s see what kind of crafty goodness we can get into. 

Love ‘n Crafts

JoElle

 

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