My Favorite Mexican Chicken Casserole

As many brides-to-be do, I was feeling like I should lose a little weight before the Big Day. My weight had been slowly inching upward for a while, and I thought I could look better. After some internet sleuthing, I joined Sparkpeople.com. It's a free website that includes community boards, health and fitness articles, a food diary system, and an exercise diary system in addition to many more features. With Sparkpeople, I lost 20 pounds before the wedding and felt and looked great. Sparkpeople also has a sister site called Sparkrecipes which I frequently browse for simple healthy meals such as this one.

Last week I did pulled pork in the slow-cooker and had a ton of leftovers. I didn't want to eat that many pulled pork sandwiches, so I decided to get creative. I subbed in the pork for the shredded chicken in this recipe, and it was delicious. The pork contributed a lot more flavor than the chicken would have.


Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups crushed lite Tostitos
- 1 lb shredded cooked chicken meat (I subbed shredded pork)
- 1 can (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans, drained
- 1 can (15.5 oz) kidney beans, drained
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 1 cup prepared salsa
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I subbed parsley)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 6 oz reduced fat shredded 4-cheese mexican cheese
- 6 oz fat-free shredded cheddar cheese (I omitted. It didn't need that much cheese.)

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease a 13x9 inch baking dish, then scatter the crushed tortilla chips evenly on the bottom.
- Combine chicken, beans, tomato sauce, salsa, onion, cilantro, garlic, salt & pepper in a bowl.
- Place half the mixture evenly in a baking dish. Combine the cheeses, then sprinkle half over the mixture.
- Cover with the remaining half of the chicken mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I served with some fat-free sour cream and a side salad with Dijon vinaigrette.

recipe from here