WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Chilaquiles is a Mexican comfort food dish made from fried tortilla wedges that are tossed in a deeply flavored red or green chile sauce. The crisp chips soften slightly in the sauce, giving the dish a unique crunchy-chewy texture. The finished dish is topped with a variety of fresh garnishes along with a fried egg and served for breakfast. We loved this idea, but decided to swap the fried egg for shredded chicken to make the dish into a hearty main course. We quickly discovered that store-bought chips led to disappointing results; they either turned mushy or never softened properly. Although most recipes call for frying the chips, we opted to bake them, which was not only more hands-off but also prevented a greasy finished dish. We made a simple sauce by pureeing the chiles, vegetables, and aromatics in a blender and then simmering the mixture in a Dutch oven. Poaching the chicken directly in the sauce infused both with more depth of flavor. An assortment of fresh garnishes made the perfect counterpoint to the rich sauce, chips, and chicken. For the best texture, we prefer to use 100 percent corn tortillas in this recipe. Serve with Mexican crema and lime wedges.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 8 wedges
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt
• ⅔ cup dried guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into ½-inch pieces
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 1 jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 8 sprigs fresh cilantro plus 2 tablespoons minced
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
• 4 ounces queso fresco, crumbled (1 cup)
• Avocado, halved, pitted, and cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 to 2 radishes, trimmed and sliced thin

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spread tortilla wedges evenly over 2 rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle each sheet with 2 tablespoons oil and ¼ teaspoon salt and toss until evenly coated.
3. Bake the tortillas, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes, switching sheets halfway through baking.
4. Toast guajillo chiles in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 2 to 6 minutes.
5. Transfer toasted guajillo chiles to a blender and process until finely ground, 60 to 90 seconds.
6. Add tomatoes and their juice, ¾ cup onion, poblano, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro sprigs, and ¾ teaspoon salt to the blender and process until very smooth, 60 to 90 seconds.
7. Combine guajillo-tomato mixture and chicken broth in the now-empty Dutch oven and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
8. Nestle chicken into the sauce. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until chicken registers 160 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.
9. Transfer chicken to a plate and let cool slightly. Using 2 forks, shred chicken into bite-size pieces.
10. Meanwhile, increase heat to medium and simmer the sauce until thickened and measures 4½ cups, about 5 minutes.
11. Stir in shredded chicken and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
12. Off heat, stir in tortillas, cover, and let sit until tortillas have softened slightly, 2 to 5 minutes.
13. Transfer the tortilla mixture to a serving dish and sprinkle with queso fresco, avocado, radishes, remaining ¼ cup onion, and minced cilantro.
14. Serve immediately with Mexican crema and lime wedges.