Texas Caviar

I have had this before and it is so yummy! This looks like a good rendition of it and like something I will be making as an appetizer the next time we have company!

I took this from THIS blog, which I really enjoy reading.

Here are her instructions:

Texas Caviar is a great salad or a dip for chips.

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo beans

1 can of black beans

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of corn

2 avocados

1 small yellow onion

a bunch of cilantro

Italian dressing

sugar

lime juice

salt

Directions:

Drain the beans and corn well. Put them in a bowl.

Chop up the onion into very small pieces. Add them.

Add about 1/3 bottle of Italian dressing to the mixture. Squirt in a whole buncha lime juice. Add some sugar. Like a 1/2 cup or something. And then add some salt. I love salt. Stir well. Cover. Chill overnight in the refrigerator.

Before serving, drain the Texas Caviar quickly in a colander. Cube up the avocado and add it. Rip up as much cilantro as you want and add it too. Toss together.

Serve with blue corn chips. Or Fritos. Or do what I did when I had guests last week and add some shredded smoked chicken breast and eat it with a fork as a salad.

Yum. Yum. YUM!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

It has been years since I made this dish. It used to be a favorite in our house but I think maybe we ate it too much. I recently made a modified version of it for my aunt who had just had surgery but I was really wanting it this week. Wow, it might have to make a regular appearance on our menu again for awhile. It was just as yummy as I remember it being!

Ingredients:
2 Cups cooked chicken cut into cubes
approx 1/2 cup skim milk-just enough to thin mixture a bit
1 can LF cream of chicken soup
1 can LF cream of mushroom soup
1 can rotel (undrained)
1 small can corn (drained)
4-5 green chopped green onions
6-8 tortillas, torn in strips
1 8 oz bag 2% LF cheddar cheese (I never use an entire bag)

Directions:
Preheat over to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl mix chicken, milk, soup, rotel, corn and green onion. Add a little of the cheese to the mixture. Mix together well. In a 9 x 13 pan, spray with cooking spray, place a layer of tortilla strips along bottom, half the soup mixture, a layer of cheese sprinkled, another layer of tortillas, the other half of the soup mixture, cheese sprinkled, another layer of tortillas and the rest of the cheese sprinkled on top.

Cover pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes and then serve!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

We recently had dinner at a friends house and they made us a delicious tortilla soup. With the weather starting to think about getting cool again, I always love to make a good soup. They are hearty, healthy, and warm your soul.

This is my rendition of tortilla soup and was delicious!

1 large container of low sodium/reduced fat chicken broth
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 can reduced sodium corn
5 chopped green onions
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into cubes
1 cubed squash
1 cubed zuchini
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups of cooked brown rice- (I use 1-2 bags of instant brown rice)
1 handful diced cilantro
1 lime-juiced
1 tbsp Chipotle Chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
tortilla chips
shredded Cheddar cheese
1 avacado chopped in cubes


DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine the broth, tomatoes and chilies and tomato sauce, corn, and green onions. Bring just to a boil then add the chicken, squash and zuchini. Boil for 10 minutes until chicken is cooked. Add black beans, cilantro, lime juice, rice and chipotle chili powder along with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat.

Serve bowl of soup. Top with crumbled chips, cheese and avacado.

ENJOY!

For crockpot--Prepare all of your veggies and onions etc the night before and store in a bag in the fridge.  Store onions in their own bad.  You could even cook your rice the night before. 

I add everything but the squash, zuchini and rice to the crockpot and top with whole chicken breasts.  Push them down just enough to be covered with liquid.  Cook on low all day. 

As soon as I walk in the door I add my veggies to the crockpot.  When I get settled I remove the chicken so I can shred it.  When done, add your rice and and shredded chicken and serve.