DASH Diet Mexican Bake
Mexican flavors will make this chicken casserole a family favorite.
Gallery
Recipe Summary
Ingredients
Directions
Tips
Copyright 2004 Jean Carper. Printed first in USA WEEKEND. All rights reserved.
Mexican flavors will make this chicken casserole a family favorite.
Copyright 2004 Jean Carper. Printed first in USA WEEKEND. All rights reserved.
In my quest to find a healthy Cinco de Mayo dish, I found this one. I drained the tomatoes and used an enchilada sauce instead. I also added green onions. My boyfriend keeps going back for more!
Read MoreThis was okay for an easy reduced fat dinner idea. I liked not having to precook the chicken before assembling the casserole. The cheese on top dried out while baking.The flavor was okay but the top looked overdone.I would try to wait to add the cheese twenty minutes into the cooking time.
Read MoreIn my quest to find a healthy Cinco de Mayo dish, I found this one. I drained the tomatoes and used an enchilada sauce instead. I also added green onions. My boyfriend keeps going back for more!
This was okay for an easy reduced fat dinner idea. I liked not having to precook the chicken before assembling the casserole. The cheese on top dried out while baking.The flavor was okay but the top looked overdone.I would try to wait to add the cheese twenty minutes into the cooking time.
Overall, this was a very good recipe. I didn't drain the tomatoes and it got a bit watery. Next time, I might mix some shredded cheese in with the tomato mixture to thicken it up a bit. It tasted good, though. My 3 yr old loved it, but my 5 yr old just picked the chicken out of it and wouldn't eat anything else :p
This is a good change of pace dish for someone following the Dash Diet. As I don't care for cheese, I ended up omitting the cheese and increasing the cumin and chili powder to give more flavor. I also added some salt free pepper blend. I then served it on a low fat,whole wheat tortilla. Lettuce or romaine plus some fat free plain yogurt could be added if one desired. The Dash Diet is working for me. Within 2 weeks my blood pressure had dropping dramatically. I have also lost 2-4 pounds every week since beginning this diet about a month ago.
This turned into a kind of seven-layer Mexican stew: In my casserole I put UNCOOKED white rice, chicken pieces, one can of black beans, a can of corn (undrained), one can of diced tomatoes (undrained), chopped onions, sharp Cheddar cheese and sliced jalapenos. (No poblano or red bell pepper in the house.) I topped the whole with generous amounts of chili powder and garlic powder (out of garlic and cumin also). I then baked it uncovered for 25 minutes but put the cover on for another 20 because the rice wasn't cooked. It turned out surprisingly good! Next time I'll cover from the start, plus I'll season the chicken and put the onions closer to the bottom so they're a little less crunchy. I can see how this might work with browned ground beef as well. Thanks!
I love this recipe!! I don't use poblano or jalapeno peppers. I use a can of rotel with diced tomatoes and green chilis. I, also, used cheder and mozzerella cheeses as a substitute. I cook covered and it turns out delicious. It's a great recipe to double for leftovers.
A good basic recipe. I had various leftovers in the fridge and was trying to decide if I should mix or layer them and this recipe helped me decide to layer. I poured a little chicken broth over the rice. I used some diced tomatoes and some tomato sauce--I would say, just use tomato sauce. My two year old especially liked the casserole.
I didn't drain the tomatoes either and also had a lot of water in the bottom of the pan. Once I drained that off, it was very good--especially the second day. I used boneless, skinless chicken tenders and left them whole. Used canned corn instead of frozen. The only ingredient I didn't have was the poblano pepper, but it was still very tasty--especially for being a "diet" dish. It was not lacking in flavor for me. I will definitely make this one again!
I must have been the only one with this problem, but after 45 minutes at 400 degrees the cheese on top of this was burned almost to the point of being inedible. The flavor was what we were looking for - I think the next time we try making it I'll cook the chicken ahead of time and severely reduce the overall cooking time. Other than that, it definitely has the potential to be a great dish, and the problem may be nothing more than a quirk in my own oven.
YUMMM!!!! Made last night, I substituted Red Quinoa for the rice,used precooked chicken and it was DELISH! My hubs even went back for seconds (that's when I know its a good dish) Only change I would make, I will mix my ingredients before putting in the casserole dish and then top with cheese and jalapenos, because I like it all mixed together instead of layered.
I have been on the dash diet for about three weks now and love the recipes! This one is so easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. I also did not have pablano peppers so substituted some green bell pepper. I also used half a fresh tomato along with one can of diced tomatoes, one can of sloppy joe sauce and about a half cup of fresh chopped zuccini. I agree that you should wait until the last 10 minutes or so before adding the cheese as it was way too browned. All in all , a wonderful meal that I will be saving to my favorites! Thanks for the recipe!
I left out the chicken from this dish to make it vegetarian and was pleased with the results! I used pinto beans in place of the black beans because, unfortunately, I was totally out. I left out the jalapenos because I am a wienie when it comes to spicy stuff, but I think this could have used the extra heat. I also topped mine with some avocado to make up for the lack of chicken. Easy recipe and I think the leftovers would go nicely in a burrito!
My family just didn't care for this.I can't put my finger on it,other then the spicy taste it was bland lacking something.The next day my husband had some leftovers but asked if I would take it personally if he threw the rest away.I will be not remake this one.
I make this quite a bit and I never get tired of it. I know it is supposed to be a healthy recipe, but I sometimes use spanish rice instead of brown and I'll use seasoned black beans. My one year old also loves this. I give it 4 stars because I do make some substitutes and it can be time consuming to make dicing the peppers and the uncooked chicken.
Mine are vegetarian and I put them in my soufflé bowls. Only change was so chicken! So yummy.
I'm cutting back on salt and this recipe appealed to me. I had a Costco roast chicken on hand, so I used the breast meat (already cooked) for this and was able to cut the cooking time by about 10 minutes. I used a couple of other folks' advice as to draining the tomatoes and adding the cheese later in the baking cycle and it was delicious! We'll definitely make this one again. I also calculated it to be about 6-8 WW Smart Points per serving.
This was really good. I misread the ingredients and thought this used precooked chicken. I realized my mistake prior to cooking the rice so I decided to do this in a skillet on the stove top and use instant rice with the additional water needed to cook it so the chicken wouldn't be over cooked. It worked great and after simmering covered for about 20 minutes I added the cheese just to melt. The stove top method might be my preference from now on as it was only one dirty pan and faster for a weeknight. Also, I used fresh diced tomato and tomatillo rather than canned tomatoes.
Thank you for the recipe! I did not have everything, so improvised with left over canned and fresh salsa & fresh tomato's. Excellent basic recipe that can be modified to fit what is in your fridge.
I was trying to make something to provide leftovers for lunches and fast dinners through the week, so I added a green pepper, yellow pepper, and another can of beans. I also used about 1.5 pounds of chicken breast. I adjusted seasonings up a little to accommodate. Also based on other comments I did 30 minutes with no cheese then i put the cheese on the last 15 minutes and this was very good. The base recipe gave me a lot to work with as I like all the ingredients. My husband came in with all the veggies in the bowl and commented "that's a lot of veggies" :-) and yes it was...very tasty.
Really loved this. I have never tried cooking a Mexican dish before. Impressed a few of my Mexican friends in the States ;-) I added some dry chili peppers (finely chopped), and a half teaspoon of pepper. We like things hot and spicy around here! I also lightly browned the chicken first in a skillet and strained off any water and juices first before adding it to the mix.
Really liked this recipe. I omitted the jalopeno and poblano peppers. I used crushed tomatoes and cooked brown rice. I also love that you don't have to precook the chicken. I probably would mix in my cheese next time since I hate the overcooked rectangle of cheese that you end up with. It was sooo good and didn't even need salt!
Are you sure? Removing from Saved Items will permanently delete it from all collections. View My Collections