It's Chile in the Air

Red, Green, or Christmas? For those not familiar with this question, it’s commonly asked at restaurants throughout New Mexico and refers to your choice of chile. Red chile, green chile or both aka Christmas. Now that we have that straight, you also should know that the chile harvest season is in full swing in New Mexico. But just because we are halfway across the country, doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate these delectable fruits here in the Midwest.

Chiles are available in many varieties and degrees of hotness – mild, medium, hot and hotter. 

Roasting them brings out the depth of their flavor but can also tame some of their heat, resulting in a smoky, bold-flavored food to use in sauces, stews, casseroles, or simply as a topping for cheeseburgers, breakfast burritos, pizza, and so on. 

The sky's the limit.

The below recipe for Green Chile Chicken Casserole was one of my very first blog posts. 

If you look way back, you will see that I was just a beginner in the photo and layout department. So here is an updated post with a few tweaks to my original recipe.

If you have difficulty locating fresh chiles around these parts, you can substitute canned chiles which are available at most grocery stores. 

Or, place an order at www.hatch-green-chile.com and roast your own.

Green Chile Chicken Casserole

The green chiles are the star of this warm and cheesy dish, which can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd. Sprinkle it with diced tomatoes, black olives or cilantro and top with a dollop of sour cream. Serves 4-6.

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or diced
⅓ cup roasted green chiles, seeded and chopped
10 ½ ounce can cream of chicken soup
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup milk
1 ½ cups shredded Mexican cheeses
Eight 6-inch corn tortillas, torn into 5-6 pieces each

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, chiles, soup, spices, milk and 1 cup of cheese.

Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. 

Spread ⅓ of the tortillas over the bottom. Top with ⅓ of chicken mixture. Repeat then repeat again. Top with remaining ½ cup of cheese.

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!