Delicious & Light © 2011

Southwest Chicken Casserole

I am always looking for light twists on typical dishes.  I will get inspiration from friends, cook books, magazines and TV shows and it is fun to take an otherwise fattening dish and make it light enough that I don’t feel bad about feeding it to my family.  The trick of course is to figure out a way to make it taste the same or better than the original dish.

Then there are those nights where I have nothing in mind and I jut start cooking with what I have.  Sometimes the dishes come out great and other times I am reluctant to feed it to my dog.  That is the fun and beauty of cooking….sometimes you never know what you are going to get!

Tonight’s dish was one of those dinners where I really didn’t have a plan, just some ingredients.  Looking back now I could have made this dish a little “lighter” but it was close enough and it was delicious.  I even had some Pillsbury Pizza dough which I formed and baked into little cups.  I then serve Nick and my portions in the cup.  Funny thing is they were gone so fast I didn’t take a picture!  Oh well next time.  Enjoy.

Southwest Chicken Casserole

Preheat oven 375^o

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Estimated values per serving:

Calories =   257                           Fat = 7 grams

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 ounces low fat cream cheese – softened

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

1 ½ cups salsa

1 cup diced tomatoes from a can – drained

2 pounds boneless cooked chicken breast – cut into ½ inch pieces

1 cup low fat grated Mexican cheese mix

1 15-ounce can black beans – drained and rinsed

Directions:

1.    Beat cream cheese and taco seasoning on high speed until whipped.

2.    Fold in salsa, tomatoes, chicken, cheese and black beans.

3.    Coat a 12 by 8 inch casserole baking pan with cooking spray.  Spoon chicken mixture into casserole pan.

4.    Bake, covered, for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

5.    Serve hot.

January 21, 2011 - Posted by Dina D'Ambrosi | Bake, Casserole, Main Courses, Poultry, Uncategorized, Vegetables | Casserole, cheese, chicken. zuchini, lowfat, mexican, salsa, tomato