Lotsa Chicken Casserole

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Surprise, surprise… another busy night and the need for a quick dinner. After speaking to my mother on my way home, I was compelled to make her tuna casserole; upon arriving home, I realized I had ingredients for a new spin on this old favorite. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: lotsa chicken casserole! Behold the chickeny goodness:

LOTSA CHICKEN CASSEROLE

(uber adapted from Anne Rivas)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans Trader Joe’s white meat chicken, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can healthy request cream of celery
  • 1 can healthy request cream of mushroom
  • 2 cups frozen peas and corn, slightly thawed (I used about 2 cups). You could just as easily use other veggies here; spinach and artichokes sound delish!
  • 10 oz whole wheat egg noodles
  • Milk
  • Cracked black pepper
  • Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of water to boil; add noodles and cook for about 6-8 minutes, until quite al dente. *Under-cooking the noodles a bit here is no sin, as they’ll be baked later, and no one likes mushy noodles. Read More

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito Filling (v, gf)

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I came across this wonderful recipe on one lovely life, a really sweet little blog. It had been a long day and I had a mish-mash of seemingly unrelated ingredients in my pantry; the opportunity to use some sweet potatoes that had been hanging out in the potato bin since Christmas (! ugh, SO lazy) seemed like a good one. Plus, this is a mix and roast recipe that creates leftovers. Doubly good!

I tend to go for highly seasoned foods, and have been trying to cut out meat where I can- I feel so much lighter and more energetic when I turn down the meat content and up the veggies. This recipe fit the fast and meatless bill perfectly! Here it is:

SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN BURRITO FILLING

(adapted from One Lovely Life)

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato, diced. I left the skin on to retain more nutrients. You may peel if your heart so desires.
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2-3 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used Ortega reduced sodium). Amount will depend on taste and how large your veggies are. You may use homemade seasoning if you’re an overachiever.
  • 3 tbsp canola oil. *you may use another oil, but I like to use a neutral oil with highly flavorful seasonings and high roasting temps.
  • 1 (14.5oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • Tortillas or tortilla chips
  • Any toppings you’d like to add. I opted for Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde and Chobani plain, nonfat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375. Dice your sweet potato and onion; try to keep the dice of each fairly similar in size. This makes for a prettier dish and even roasting.

In a large bowl, toss all ingredients. Stir to coat well with oil and seasoning. Spread mixture out on a large baking sheet.
Roast for 30 minutes, stirring 15 minutes in, adding more olive oil if necessary. I used the 3 tbsp of oil as to avoid this.
Toss black beans and roasted vegetables and serve with chips or in tortillas. Trader Joe’s baked blue corn tortilla chips were DELISH with this filling, and added visual interest; the salsa verde, creamy white yogurt and blue chips made quite a pretty bowl of chow. The subtle sweetness of the roasted onions and sweet potato, paired with the smoky seasoning and black beans gives an unexpected punch of flavor. Top with what you wish, and enjoy! Here are my leftovers at work the next day:

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Makes 4 servings for 4 hungry people.