Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Lighter Version of King Ranch Casserole



I woke up this morning craving comfort food.  Our life has been really busy lately and we were just planning on staying home all day today and resting.  I couldn't think of a better reason to cook something warm and "homey" for dinner.  Unfortunately, many of the comfort foods I enjoy our really fattening and high in calories which is fine to have every once in awhile, but considering our Fourth of July cookout yesterday I knew I had to be good the rest of the week.  I came across this recipe for a healthier version of King Ranch Casserole.  I hope you enjoy!

Two cups of chopped up chicken breast (I bought a rotisserie chicken and pulled the skin off and chopped up the meat)
4 corn tortillas (we had leftover baked tortilla chips from our cookout yesterday that I used instead)
1 10 ounce can Rotel
1 fat free can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 fat free can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow onion
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of chili powder
1 block of reduced fat chedder cheese (grated)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray a casserole pan with non stick cooking spray.  In a nonstick skillet sprayed with spray, cook chopped up onion and bell pepper together until onion is translucent (about 5 minutes).  Next, add both cans of soup, rotel, garlic powder and chili powder.  Stir together until bubbly and then remove from heat.  In the bottom of the casserole pan place either 1/3 tortilla chips or 1/3 torn up corn tortillas on the bottom.  Next, layer a third of the chicken mixture on top of that and then place 1/3 of grated cheese on top of that.  Continue to layer chips/tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese until gone.  Cook in oven for approx. 30 minutes or until mixture begins to bubble.  Let cool and then serve!  We each had a half of a buckwheat rosemary hamburger bun leftover from our cookout yesterday with it.  Enjoy!