2 for 1

Here's a couple of recipes that I made recently that I think are winners. The first recipe I found in Cooking Light Magazine, it was easy, economical, and low in fat.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

1 c. preshredded 4 cheese Mexican blend (I used cheddar)
1/3 c. fat free milk
1 egg
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 - 14 oz. can cream style corn
1 - 8.5 oz. box corn muffin mix
1 - 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
1 - 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
2 c. shredded cooked chicken breast (I used about 3 c.)
1/2 c. fat free sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. combine 1/4 c. cheese and next seven ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until cheese melts. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces and top each serving with 1 T. sour cream.


I was watching Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals the other day and she was making this Chili Suizas Bake. It looked so delish I had to try it last night. Just an FYI, ground chicken is really hard to find. I went to several stores and apparently they don't offer ground chicken because of some health code. I ended up going to Marberger Meats in Bountiful (a great butcher shop BTW), and they ground me some fresh chicken. I think you could try this with ground turkey, but I prefer the ground chicken. This ends up being kind of like a chili/soup with the chips and cheese on top - kind of like a chili version of Enchilada Suizas. Yum - O!

Chili Suizas Bake

3 large poblano peppers (I didn't find poblanos so I ended up using anaheim peppers)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs. ground chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
12 large or 16 medium to small tomatillos, peeled, rinsed and halved
1/4 c. cilantro, a handful
2 c. chicken stock
2 tsp. honey
salt and pepper
1 lime, juiced
1/2 c. sour cream
3 c. lightly crushed tortilla chips
1 c. shredded swiss cheese
1 c. shredded monterey jack cheese

Heat the broiler to high. Place the poblanos under hot broiler and char until blackened on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Leave the door of the oven cracked to allow the steam to escape. Place the peppers ina bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. All the peppers to cool enough to handle. While peppers char, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and lightly brown, 3 -4 minutes. Stir in onions, jalapeno and garlic and cook to soften onions about 5 minutes. While onions cook, place tomatillos and cilantro in the food processor and process until smooth. Pour the tomatillos into the chicken mixture and stir to combine. Stir in chicken stock and honey, season with salt and pepper and simmer chili 10 minutes.

When poblano peppers are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off, remove seeds and chop, stir into chili. Remove chili pan from heat and stir in lime juice. (at this point you could either leave the mixture in the skillet, or put into a 9 x 13 pan - I used the 9 x 13). Add dollops of sour cream on top of the chili, placing spoonfuls evenly across the pan. Cover the pan with a layer of crushed chips and top with swiss and monterey jack cheeses. Place under broiler until brown and bubbly. Serve from hot skillet, spooning chili into shallow dinner bowls.

I served this with chopped red onion and avocados.