Chicken Taco Pie

Chicken Taco Pie
4-6 Servings

Ingredients:

1 T vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 chicken breasts, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 t cumin

1/2 t paprika

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1/4 cup taco sauce

1 flour tortilla

1 can refried beans

4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

1 c Doritos Nacho Cheesier chips, smashed (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook onion and green pepper over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add chicken and garlic; stir occasionally until chicken is cooked through.  Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika.  Add tomatoes, corn, and taco sauce.  Simmer over low heat until liquid is mostly gone.

Meanwhile, place the tortilla on the bottom of a pie tin.  Spread refried beans over tortilla and up the side of the pan.

When chicken mixture has lost most of its liquid pour it into the pie tin.  Sprinkle cheese over chicken mixture. 

Cook pie for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through.  Sprinkle chips over pie and cook for 5 more minutes.

Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Note: This can be made ahead and frozen (without any chips).  Bake just until the cheese is melted and let cool before covering tightly with plastic wrap.  Defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours before reheating.  Bake at 350 degrees until cooked through, about 45 minutes.

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole (10 P+)

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
8 Servings, 75 Minutes
PRINTABLE

Ingredients:

7 ½ c chicken broth, divided

2 c wild rice mix

3 T butter

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

3 T flour

½ c milk

1 can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 can green beans, drained

1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped

2 c cooked chicken, shredded

salt

pepper

¼ can French’s fried onions

Instructions:

In a saucepan, bring 6 cups of chicken broth to a boil; add rice and return to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for approximately 40 minutes, until rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add butter, onion, and celery.  Sauté until onion is translucent.  Add garlic and cook for one minute.  Sprinkle flour over vegetables.  Stir and cook until flour browns slightly.  Slowly whisk in 1 ½ cups of chicken broth and ½ cup milk.

Stir in mushrooms, green beans, water chestnuts, chicken, salt, and pepper.  Top with fried onions.

Bake for 25 minutes or until fried onions are golden and casserole is bubbling.

Notes:

Change it up by switching up some vegetables each time you make it.

Tater Tot Hotdish (11 P+)

Hotdish?!?  What's a hotdish???

If you are asking yourself that question, you probably aren't from the Midwest.  That's what we call a casserole.  It doesn't include anything special; it's just a bunch of stuff in a pan that's been baked for a while.

This is a great recipe that I made up from what little I know about tater tot hotdish.  It's one of those things where every family makes it their own way.  I actually never had it before I started experimenting but I had a roommate that made it and it looked delicious.

The best thing about this dish is it is EASY!!!  Basically all you do is brown some beef, then open a few cans and throw them in a dutch oven.  45 minutes later you have a meal complete with meat, vegetables, potatoes, and a sauce.  Voila!

Tater Tot Hotdish
6 Servings, 60 minutes
PRINTABLE

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef

½ onion, chopped

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can green beans

1 can whole kernel corn

Salt

Pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

12 oz frozen tater tots

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a Dutch oven, brown ground beef and season with salt and pepper.  Add onion and cook until tender.  Remove from heat.

Stir in soups, vegetables, salt, and pepper.

Top with cheddar cheese.

Arrange tater tots around the top in a single layer.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until tator tots are golden brown.

Notes:

This is a great make-ahead recipe.  It can be refrigerated overnight or frozen for a couple weeks.  Be sure to remove as much air as possible before freezing and allow adequate time for thawing before cooking. 

To make this recipe healthier substitute ground turkey for the beef, fresh vegetables for canned, and use fat free or reduced fat soup (9 P+).