Delicious Enchiladas Verdes
Story and Photos by Madison Perales
Delicious aromas and the familiar clang of pots and pans brings back comforting kitchen memories for most Hispanic households with food being an important component to the Hispanic culture.
Ricardo “Ricky” Garcia, a senior Psychology major, is no stranger to the sights, smells and sounds of growing up in a Hispanic household. The San Antonio native currently lives with five other housemates; to their delight he has a 24/7 pass to a kitchen.
When not cooking, he participates in on campus groups such as the Marianist Leadership Program, TRIO and Rattler Awakening. After graduating, he plans to complete a year of service before enrolling in medical school with the hopes of becoming a pediatric surgeon.
In four years, “St. Mary’s gives [you] the opportunity to be who God calls you to be, with the ones you love”, Garcia says.
As heavily involved as Garcia is on campus, he is still able to adhere to the expectations of the Westminster Lay Community which include: morning/evening prayer, community service and home cooked Sunday dinners. It was agreed that Garcia prepares a variety of meals for the house at least four times a week.
Garcia admits to loving Mexican and Italian food the most and it was no surprise when he decided to cook Enchiladas Verdes. His grandmother, mother and aunt inspired him to cook.
“I feel connected to my roots when I cook with all the aromas, music in the background and laughs in the kitchen, I was never taught to cook where as I was always by the side of my grandmother, mother and aunt watching them, picked it up and conquered it through trial and error”, he says.
Garcia cooks with his housemates and make memories, such as the ones he made when he was a boy. “Growing up we’d always have home cooked meals made by my grandmother, mother, and aunt, they were always high quality meals”, Garcia says.
He admits that cooking can be tedious at times but the end product is almost always worth it. His favorite part of cooking is realizing how influenced his techniques are by his three favorite women. His go-to meal, and a personal favorite of his is Spanish rice.
Much like his three influences, Garcia continues the tradition of cooking high quality, home cooked meals for the people he loves and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Chicken (shredded)
- ½ cup shredded cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup cilantro
- 2 ¼ cups chicken broth
- 1 ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon salt (varies)
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper (varies)
- 8 corn tortillas
- 3 jalapeños (varies)
- 1 pound tomatillos
- Cooking spray
- Large bowl
- Cooking pan
- Comal
Makes 8-10 servings
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely chop all vegetables and shred the chicken, After, combine all chicken, cheese, onion, cilantro, chicken broth (1/3 cup), sour cream (1/3 cup), lime juice, salt and pepper (to taste) in large bowl. Next, lightly coat pan with cooking spray and spread a light layer of salsa verde to coat bottom of pan and warm tortillas on the comal. When done, fill center of tortilla with chicken mix and roll up, place seam down in the pan. Pour remaining salsa verde on top of enchiladas. Cover and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes. Serve with side of Spanish rice, sour cream, guacamole and chopped jalapeños is desired.
Filed under: Class Projects, Entrees, Magazine Launch, Recipes | Tagged: Enchiladas Verdes, Madison Perales, magazine launch, Ricky Garcia, taste of stmu | Leave a comment »
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