Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas

Last night for dinner I made one of my favorite main dishes. It's an edit of the first "blog" recipe I ever made for a meal. I got the idea from Cassie Craves - Cream Cheese Enchiladas. She prepares them with shredded chicken and corn, and made that way, they are fantastic.

One evening a while back, I wanted seafood. And I wanted Mexican. I couldn't figure out what I really wanted and decided to see if I could find a recipe that fit both cravings. I kept looking at this one thinking "that would be pretty good with shrimp..." and so that's where this modification came from.

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of shredded chicken, but instead, I got a 1-pound bag of the extra small frozen shrimp, and one of those small 'snack packs' of imitation crab meat... krab, if you will. I mixed that up together with some frozen corn and added the chili powder, some cumin, a little onion powder, and omitted the salt and pepper figuring there was plenty of both in the salsa. I also omitted the scallions, mostly because I forgot to buy some (oops!). I also used a full block of cream cheese and a little extra sour cream (because I had accidentally picked up 10-inch tortillas, instead of 8 and needed the extra filling), I also added a splash of white wine vinegar (completely optional, it was a whim and they will be delicious without it).

This recipe is highly adaptable for whatever your taste buds are asking for. It's also excellent with shredded chicken, black beans instead of corn, and a little lime juice.

Anyway, this was was when I pulled it out of the oven:

Couldn't wait to dig in...

And this is when I cut into it on my plate:

So much creamy goodness.

And this is the recipe, as I made it last night (Modified from Cassie Craves)!

8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups salsa (I used medium, but go with your taste buds)
Splash white wine vinegar
1 cup shredded colby jack (or mild or sharp cheddar)
1 cup shredded pepper-jack (or mozarella + a sprinkle of ground cayanne or red pepper flakes)
1lb frozen small shrimp, thawed
1/3 cup imitation crab meat, chopped (optional)
1 cup frozen corn (I don't thaw it first, so they don't get smashed when I'm stirring)
chili powder
cumin
onion powder
salt & pepper (optional)
8 10-inch flour tortillas (you can use 8 inch, or corn, or whatever, I had 10 inch on hand)

Heat oven to 325

Mix together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth, then add 1/2 cup of salsa, 1/2 cup of each of the cheeses, vinegar if you are using it, and mix until everything is blended. In another bowl, add your meats, corn, and seasonings. Make sure everything is well incorporated, then add to the cream cheese mixture and mix it up.

Spread 1/2 cup of salsa (I mixed mine with some sour cream, too) on the bottom of a large casserole dish (9x13 was too small for mine, believe it or not!). I had to use this dish. Then use 1/3c (or so) of the filling mixture for each tortilla, roll up burrito style, and place seam-side down in the prepared dish. Top with the remaining salsa (again, I mixed mine with a little sour cream to stretch it), and the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes, until heated through, and cheese is melty.

Let cool for just a few minutes, then serve and enjoy! I know we did.

This makes 8 meal-size servings, unless you are a bottomless pit like my husband, who ate two.

Tonight's dinner is a chicken dinner for two, courtesy of Taste of Home, with a side of zucchini and onion. Mostly healthy eats tonight. :)

~Mandy