Mexican Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Posted on by llbalanced
Mexican Chicken Tortilla Casserole
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    [post_title] => Mexican Chicken Tortilla Casserole
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09.14

This is big, y'all. I am finally in the stage of my cookbook where I am having to cut out recipes! I have been working furiously for the past 8 months to develop or update over 100 recipes that will help you to 1) eat healthier 2) enjoy cooking more 3) feel less stressed about what to serve yourself and your family.

Cookbooks are an enormous amount of work, more than I could have possibly imagined: mountains of dirty dishes, countless stained articles of clothing, perpetual dehydration, bizarre meal combinations, composted food disasters, a little blood and a lotta sweat and tears.

All of this, I have loved. Every.single.moment of it, even when I've tested for twelve hours and had nothing but failures and I'm a wreck. I am so unbelievably grateful for this opportunity, and for a husband who has supported all of the above, eating more leftovers than is kind to serve.

The hard part has only come recently, when I've had to force myself to STOP adding recipes to the outline. There are so many more dishes I want to include, but I don't want to overwhelm you, myself or my publishers!

However, I fully intend on writing a second cookbook, come heck or high water, so I just keep telling myself that these cookbook recipe-babies will be birthed eventually. 'Cause that's really how I feel about each and every recipe! 100 plus little food babies I can't wait to share with you.

mexican tortilla casserole wordpress 1

Ok, before this gets weirder, I'll segue to the casserole I'm sharing today, which I mournfully decided to cut from the book. I absolutely adore this Mexican Chicken Tortilla Casserole—like, immediately called my husband to tell him how good it is, as if I didn't believe myself. But it's a little too similar to two other recipes that my cookbook needs more. There I am getting weird again.

Suffice it to say, this casserole ROCKS, and it makes a ton of servings, getting more delicious every day. It is a great option for a casual group dinner, or if you have a family with varying taste buds...Mexican food tends to bring everyone together! The sweet potato "cheese" sauce is absolutely addicting, and it offers a nutritional punch of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, potassium and fiber. I like to make a double batch and use it as a pasta sauce.

Enjoy this little sneak peak into the kinds of recipes you'll see in the LL Balanced Cookbook!

 

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TOTAL TIME :35minutes1hour1hour
10servings
INGREDIENTS
  • CHEESE SAUCE
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped into 1" pieces (approx. 1 large potato)
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
  • CASSEROLE
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup yellow onion, diced into 1/4" pieces
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (sub another dried sweetener)
  • 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained & rinsed
  • 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (approx. 1 chicken)
  • 3 cups tortilla chips (4 large handfuls)*can leave off
  • 10-12 small soft corn tortillas, sliced in half
DIRECTIONS
CHEESE SAUCE
  1. Place cashews in a bowl and cover with room temperature water. Soak cashews on the countertop for 1 hour. Drain and rinse and set aside.
  2. Bring 2 quarts (8 cups) water to a boil in a sauce pot. Add sweet potatoes and boil until easily pierced with a fork, 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water for 1 minute to cool.
  3. Place cashews, sweet potatoes, nutritional yeast, garlic, sea salt and chicken stock in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth and set aside. Taste for more nutritional yeast and/or sea salt.
CASSEROLE
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and set a shallow 11 x 9 casserole dish on the countertop.
  2. Heat a large sauté pan to medium heat and add olive oil. Turn pan to coat completely with olive oil. When oil is coating the pan, add onions. Cook, stirring, until onions are softened and translucent, approximately 3-4 minutes. Turn heat to low and add garlic, sea salt, chili powder, paprika and cumin. Cook another minute, stirring, then add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock and coconut sugar. Stir to incorporate evenly, then add black beans and chicken. Cook, stirring, another two minutes until mixture is heated through.
  3. Place tortilla chips in a food processor. Process until they form a crumble consistency. Or just crumble chips using your fingers.
  4. Assemble Casserole: Spread 1/4 cup sweet potato cheese sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with a layer of 6-8 corn tortilla halves. Spread 2 cups chicken mixture over tortilla halves and pour over 1/2 cup cheese sauce. Top with 6-8 more tortilla halves and repeat this process in two more layers, using up the last of the cheese sauce. Spread crushed tortilla chips in an even layer over the top.
  5. Bake casserole for 35 minutes, then allow to cool 5 minutes before serving. Top with optional garnish: olives, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, green onions, avocado, lime Casserole will keep tightly sealed in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
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