Enchilada Review - Tisha

I made the Chicken & Green Olive Enchilada's for a small dinner party last night, and they were a hit! I loved the mole sauce, particularly because canned enchilada sauce has just not been appealing to me lately. I was really skeptical about the pimiento-stuffed green olives, but they added nice flavor. I used rotisserie chicken, which definitely cut down on the prep time. I think these would be good served with a tomatillo salsa. I will definitely be using this recipe again in the future - thank you Eva!
PS - I made this for dessert, and it was easy, tasty and pretty! Subbed granny smith apples for half of pears: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/10/pear-cranberry-and-gingersnap-crumble/

Stovetop Chili Mac

This recipe is from Everyday Food Mag.  Our family LOVES this and it's so easy because I usually have all the ingredients on hand.  It says it serves 4 however I am able to feed the 5 of us with this recipe.  I have made is several time as it reads but the last time I added a can of diced tomatoes, juice and all, for just a bit more of the chili influence and we really liked it that way too.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 pound rigatoni or other tube-shaped pasta
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, diced small
• 1 pound ground beef chuck (85 percent lean)
• 1 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 cup corn kernels, thawed if frozen
• 1 small zucchini, diced medium
• 2 ounces cheddar, grated (3/4 cup)

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and return to pot. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil over medium. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent, 3 minutes.
   
2. Increase heat to medium-high, add beef, and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add cumin and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add corn and zucchini and cook until zucchini is crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and juice, bring to a simmer, and cook until mixture is heated through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide pasta among four bowls, top with meat sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.