Spice up your night with homemade Mexican cuisine

I am not sure if it's because I can legally enjoy a margarita with my meal, but I am absolutely infatuated with Mexican food lately.

It's casual, easy, fast, and fairly inexpressive and never fails to put me in a good mood. Or perhaps it's the small ocean of tequila.

Ironically enough, my favorite Mexican restaurant is located several thousand miles away in the Sherman Oaks district of Los Angeles, Calif.

Casa Vega Restaurant has been in the restaurant business for more than 50 years. It serves everyone from L.A. locals to A-list celebrity regulars, this is the place to go in southern California for authentic Mexican cuisine.

During my recent trip to Manhattan, I ran into restaurant owner Christy Vega-Fowler who was doing an instructional cooking demonstration that showcased one of the restaurant's best sellers: Chicken Enchiladas.

I finally learned some of her secrets and I am thrilled to share them.

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of sampling this flagship dish of Mexico, it's basically liked a baked burrito served with a red sauce and topped with melted cheese.

Enchilada fillings can include everything from green peppers, onions, garlic, and beef, to just cheese and chicken.

Making the authentic Casa Vega red sauce that the enchiladas are topped in is rather intermediate so for the sake of being college friendly, just purchase canned enchilada sauce from the store.

In addition to one (1) can of sauce, you will also need the following:

1 whole chicken, shredded and deboned

1 small onion, chopped and sautéed until soft

1/2 head of garlic, minced, sautéed with onions

1 dozen tortillas

Shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese

Vegetarian? Not into chicken? Hate my choice of ingredients all together?

Put whatever you want in this dish. Vega-Fowler, the enchilada guru, encouraged us to make just about anything into an enchilada. She said her favorite was lobster.

Sounds interesting, but I'll stick to chicken.

1. Cook tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds so they are somewhat warm.

Using warm tortillas when making anything from wraps to burritos prevents them from breaking.

2. Place desired amount of ingredients in the middle of tortilla and roll.

3. Place filled tortillas in an oven-safe baking dish and pour enchilada sauce on top and place shredded cheese.

 4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Are you as obsessed with quesadillas as I am? I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but for under $25, you can own your very own quesadilla maker.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: why?

Although assembling and making a quesadilla is pretty easy in a non-stick skillet, this round contraption produces heat from (and crisps) two sides simultaneously and seals the quesadilla into five perfect cheesy packages.

With the ample amount of Mexican-inspired restaurants surrounding the UCF campus, this may be something that you usually think to eat out rather than at home.

However, with just a few ingredients and 10 minutes, you won't need to trek all the way to Chipotle Mexican Grill or Moe's in Alafaya traffic for your mid-week Mexican fix.