Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

This is my third recipe for enchiladas on this blog. I love both the enchiladas verdes and beef enchiladas, but both are pretty time consuming. For the verdes, you have to roast and peel the peppers before you start. For the beef, you have to simmer the sauce for 90 minutes. I wanted a weeknight enchiladas recipe, and this is the closest I've come.Not surprisingly, this is a Cooks Illustrated recipe.

Ingredients:
1.5 tablespoons veggie oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
3 medium cloves garlic (I halved this, since Doug won't eat food once it's crossed the line into garlic-y)
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
12 ounces boneless, skinless, diced chicken. CI suggested thighs, but I used chicken breasts.
2 cans of tomato sauce (pureed tomato, not marinara) leaves
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 can pickled jalapenos, drained and chopped
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese.
10 corn tortillas (most corn tortillas are GF - flour tortillas are NOT)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add onion and cook for a few minutes until soft and starting to brown.

Add garlic, chili poweder, coriander, cumin, salt and sugar. Cook for another 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook, stirring constantly, for another 30 seconds. The chicken should be totally coated with spices. Add tomato sauce and 3/4 cup of water. Cook, uncovered, for around 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Dump the whole thing into a bowl lined with a mesh strainer to separate the filling from the sauce. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and put in the fridge or freezer until cool enough to combine with cilantro, cheese and jalapenos.

Spread  1/2 - 1 cup of sauce over the bottom of your baking dish. Heat the tortillas up in either the microwave or the oven. Fill each tortilla with one tenth of the filling (around 1/3 cup) and line seam side down in the baking dish. Cover the rolled enchiladas with the remaining sauce and shredded cheese. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes and serve! You can serve with whatever staples you pick - sour cream, avocado, lettuce, etc. I also think it's crucial to make mexican rice with enchiladas! The recipe for mexican rice can be found at the bottom of the beef enchiladas post.