Chicken Enchiladas for the Soul

This recipe is a Dan-the-Man original. We bought all the ingredients for simple burritos but as evening came around, he felt the urge to create something a little sassier. His title for these beauties? Chicken enchiladas for the soul.

If you skim through this recipe, you will notice the 'soul' part comes from the fact that the chicken is slow cooked on your stovetop for about three hours. Don't try to circumvent this: it is really essential to developing the great flavor in this dish. Instead, pick a day when you have the whole afternoon at home so you can enjoy the process!

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 4-5 boneless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup Mexican spice blend
• 2 cups water
• good quality hot sauce to taste (optional but strongly recommended)
• 1 can pineapple rings, juice strained

• five 10" flour tortillas
• 8 oz. shredded cheddar
• salsa and/or sour cream, for serving

Directions

1. Place a deep skillet over medium-high heat.
2. As pan is heating up, add olive oil and cumin.
3. Once cumin starts to sizzle, place chicken thighs in skillet. Sear thighs for about a minute on each side.
4. Add red wine and stir well.
5. Add Mexican spice blend, water, hot sauce, and pineapple rings.
6. Cover skillet. Reduce heat to low.
7. Let cook, undisturbed, for 3 hours.

To assemble enchiladas:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Strain chicken and pineapple. Return to skillet.
3. Shred chicken with a fork.
4. Warm tortillas in the microwave (about 20-30 seconds for the pile).
5. On a clean surface, lay out your tortilla. Scoop some chicken-pineapple mixture onto the lower half of the tortilla. Sprinkle cheese on chicken, then roll up tortilla, burrito-style.
6. Place each in a lightly oiled 13x9 pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese browns.
8. Serve with salsa and/or sour cream for dipping. We enjoyed ours alongside yellow rice.