This fantastic Mexican layered casserole is both hearty and healthy.  It’s loaded with lean protein from the chicken, reduced-fat cottage cheese and fat free re-fried beans.  It’s perfect for those sensitive to wheat since I’m using corn tortillas instead of lasagna noodles.  I’ve shared this recipe in the past and the skinny facts were for 4 servings.  I recently made it again and found that the serving size is still very satisfying when this casserole serves 6.  The skinny facts are much lower now.  The new skinny for 1 serving is 239 calories, 3 grams of fat and 6 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS.  Serve with a vegetable or simple salad and you’re good to go!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1½ cup reduced-fat cottage cheese

1 cup cooked white meat chicken, chopped

⅓ cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed

¼ cup (½ can) Ortega diced green chilies

⅔ cup pasta or marinara sauce, from a jar, such as Classico or Prego

6 corn tortillas, cut each into four

1 (8oz) can fat-free re-fried beans

⅔ cup salsa (I like Pace Medium Chunky Salsa)

¼ cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9” square pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, chicken, corn and green chilies.

3. Spread pasta sauce on bottom of  pan.

4. Arrange 2 tortillas (8 pieces) on top of pasta sauce

5. Remove the beans from can, place in a small bowl and soften in the microwave for easy spreading.  Spread the re-fried beans evenly on the tortillas.

6. Arrange 2 more tortillas (8 pieces) over beans.

7. Spread cheese mixture evenly over the tortillas.

8. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and place the last cut tortillas on top of casserole.

10. Spread the salsa evenly over tortillas.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese evenly on top.

11. Cover casserole and bake 15 minutes longer.  Cool slightly and cut into 6 slices.

Makes 6 servings (each serving, 1 slice)

Food Fact
Re-fried beans consist of cooked and mashed pinto or kidney beans that have been seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper.  Some re-fried beans are fried in lard but fat-free refried beans are not.

Healthy Benefits
Fat-free re-fried beans are a fairly decent source of lean protein and carbohydrates. They’re high in fiber and folate.

Reduced-fat cottage cheese is low in fat, calories and cholesterol.  It’s a very good source of vitamins B12 and calcium.

The only draw back with fat free re-fried beans is it’s a little high sodium.

Storage Tip
This casserole will last for several days in the refrigerator and freezes great. Cut leftovers into single servings, wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag.  It will keep for several months in the freezer.

Weight Watchers (old points) 4
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6