Nacho Chicken Tostadas

I've been trying to eat up the food I have in my pantry before leaving the country.  (It's hard, because I hoard food.)  This month, I made myself look for a recipe that would use at least several things I already had, without having to buy much more.  That's how I found Nacho Chicken Tostadas.  This was a new recipe for me...and, unfortunately, I don't think it was a success.  But, it did use three canned goods from the panty, so I accomplished one goal.

First, the "tostadas" part didn't work.  I bought corn tortillas, but when I opened them to make them "tostada-esque" they were moldy.  Therefore, the recipe became Nacho Chicken Tostadas Burritos/Enchiladas.  I'll include the directions for making the tostada cups below, but I did not make them.  I know that if I had, I would have a lot more dirty dishes - so I guess I can be thankful for that!

Second, this recipe was NOT photogenic.  It was just ugly.  But, the flavor was OK, so it wasn't a total failure.  I think it would be better mixed with some brown rice or something...maybe I'll try that with the leftovers.  Oh well, I guess not every recipe I try will be a success, but I'll share it with you anyway.

The ingredients.

Mix soup, tomatoes, chilies, and chicken.  Kind of ugly looking, huh?

Chop bell pepper and cilantro for garnish.

This is where it should be put in the tostada cup, but you already know that didn't work.  So, I put it in a flour tortilla.

More like a burrito or enchilada.

It worked - but it was very messy!

Nacho Chicken Tostadas Burritos/Enchiladas:

1 can condensed nacho cheese soup (I used cheddar cheese because that's what I had, I think it worked fine)

2 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can chopped green chilies, drained

10 tostada shells (directions below)

5 cups shredded lettuce

Chopped red/yellow peppers for garnish

Chopped cilantro/parsley for garnish

Directions:

-In 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine soup, chicken, tomatoes, and chilies.  Heat through.

-On each tostada shell, arrange 1/2 cup of the lettuce.  Top with 1/4 cup of the soup mixture.  

-Garnish with peppers and cilantro.

Tostada Cups:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Use 10 (8-inch) corn tortillas.  On baking sheet, place 5 balls of aluminum foil (about 4-inch in diameter).  Spray 10-inch nonstick skillet with vegetable cooking spray.  Over high heat, heat one corn tortilla 5 seconds on each side until tortilla is softened.  Drain on paper towels.  Immediately drape tortilla over foil ball on baking sheet.  Repeat with 4 additional tortillas.  Bake 5 minutes or until golden.  Remove from oven and cool on foil balls.  Turn tortilla cups over; remove foil balls.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.  (See what I mean about more dirty dishes...I'm almost glad I didn't make the tostada cups!)

Dirty Dishes.  Not bad, mostly because I didn't make the tostada cups!

Nacho Chicken Tostadas Burritos/Enchiladas

Taste: 2 out of 5

Dirty Dishes: 4 out of 5

Time/Effort: 3 out of 5

TOTAL: 9 out of 15