After cooking my Green Chile Colorado for breakfast the other morning, Vita decided that she wanted some Mexican delights, which led me to whip up another Enchilada sauce creation, what I’m calling a Mexican Gumbo with fried tortillas.

This is super simple, and super quick. It’s also full of flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 13 oz can of chunk chicken in water
• 1 15 oz can black beans
• 1 19 oz can red enchilada or chile sauce (we like Las Palmas medium for this recipe)
• 3 tablespoons hot sauce
• 1 orange bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 quarter of a red onion (chopped)
• 8-10 button mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/8 cup cilantro
• Mexican blend cheese for garnish
• 2 tortillas seasoned with Southwest spice blend (see this post for the recipe)

Preparation:

Gumbo
1. Open can of chicken and drain water. Place in a large skillet or saucepan and heat over a medium flame.
2. Add beans and chile sauce, bringing ingredients to a simmer. Add hot sauce, onions, mushrooms and cilantro and allow ingredients to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add peppers after 10 minutes. (We do this to maintain the crunch of the peppers. It’s a nice textural element and the cooler peppers make for a break from the heat.
4. Serve in a bowl with a spoon. Garnish with cheese and remaining cilantro.

Fried Tortillas
1. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil (per tortilla fried) in a skillet.
2. Dust cooking oil with southwest seasoning blend.
3. Add tortilla and rub around the pan.
4. Fry each side of tortilla for 1 to 2 minutes. Cut into triangles and serve with the gumbo.

It’s a wonderful dish really. It’s perfect for a cooler evening or when you want something quick, yet hearty. My wife absolutely adores this stuff. Also, Vita did the photography for this post. I’m gonna have to start crediting her for the work. Happy eating.