My Quest to Become Julia in 52 Weeks: Week 8~Chicken, Asparagus and Black Bean Enchiladas

Since yesterday was "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras", it was my quest to find an amazingly delicious, tempting recipe! And what better than from a cookbook I found in my treasured collection titled: "The New Inter Courses", an aphrodisiac cookbook.
So those of you who have never had asparagus, NEED to try this recipe!

This was a really "fancy" meal. It made me so happy making this, and it went perfect with a Margarita! Yummm.

Let me give you the ingredients first!

1 lb asparagus 2 small red bell peppers, finely chopped
6 slices of bacon 1 tsp ground cumin
1 lb boneless chicken 1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper ( or chili powder)
3 cloves garlic 1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 1/2 cups salsa 6 tortillas
1- 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed approx 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup light cream

I used a skillet to blanch the asparagus. Bring water to a boil and cook asparagus until it turns bright green, but still crisp. Rinse under cold water to prevent it from cooking further. Set aside.

In another skillet, cook your bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels. Crumble.
SAVE THE BACON DRIPPINGS!

You are going to saute the sliced chicken and garlic in the bacon drippings. DON'T skip this step; it made the chicken amazingly tender, so don't worry about the calories. :)

In another bowl, mix 1 cup of the salsa, the beans, diced red peppers, cumin and chili peppers. Add to the chicken in the skillet. Simmer for approx 7 minutes, then add the diced green onions and bacon.

This is when everything starts to smell A - MAZING!!!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9X13 baking dish.

To assemble the enchiladas, spoon the bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. I have a really large counter and have found if I lay them all out, I can evenly divide up the chicken. ( my scientist husband taught me that!)

Three asparagus per tortilla was perfect!!

As you can see, then I topped each one with a generous amount of cheese. I buy the mexican blend of cheese, my personal favorite......and I never really measure the cheese. Just pile it on!! ( after all, it was Fat Tuesday!)

Roll up each tortilla and place seam-side down in the dish. These can be prepared ahead of time up to this point and refrigerated. Or make one GIGANTIC mess like I did last night!

For the topping, mix the 1/2 cup of cream ( I used half and half) with approx 1/2 cup of salsa. Pour over the top of each enchilada.

I baked these for approx 15 minutes covered, then uncovered them and topped with a little more cheese!