Chicken Tamale Casserole

With the knowledge that three separate storms systems were headed for Southern California, I decided that we needed some comfort food to get us through. I had some ripe avacados ready to be used, so Mexican fare was in order. The Cooking Light recipe, Chicken Tamale Casserole was brought up in a Cooking Light Bullition Board thread a few months ago by rjbq. I gave it a try at that point and we really liked it. This seemed like a perfect recipe to repeat, we enjoyed it with Mexican Rice and Terry's guacamole.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Risë Minton, Smyrna, GA, Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2008

Yield

8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 354 (36% from fat)

Fat: 14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)

Protein: 18.9g

Carbohydrate: 36.3g

Fiber: 2.5g

Cholesterol: 58mg

Iron: 1.7mg

Sodium: 620mg

Combine 1/4 cup of the cheese, milk, egg substitute (I used one egg instead), cumin, red pepper, cream-style corn, corn muffin mix and chiles.

Pour the corn mixture into a baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Shred two cups of precooked chicken.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes (I have found that it needs almost 25 minutes at this point.)

Pierce the cornbread liberally with a fork and then pour the enchilada sauce all over the top.

Sprinkle with the shredded chicken.

Sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup of cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 more minutes.

Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Cooking Light's Chicken Tamale Casserole is a very simple recipe to prepare. It really does have the taste of homemade tamales, made in a fraction of the time. We do not usually have egg substitute on hand, so I subbed in one lightly beaten egg. The first time that I made this recipe I baked the cornbread for the 15 minutes called for. When I went to poke the holes into the cornbread I could tell that it was not done baking all the way, it was not set at all. I put it into the oven for another 10 minutes. Knowing this, I left the cornbread in the oven for 25 minutes at 400 degrees and it came out perfectly. I am not sure if I will serve this again with my Mexican Rice, it seemed almost like a starch overload. I think a green salad would be a nice compliment to this savory dish which will be repeated often in our home. Chicken Tamale Casserole is excellent fresh from the oven and even better the next day as leftovers.

-Heather