Cooking Light Enchilada Casserole

Here is a post for those of you who made the resolution to eat better in the New Year for health reasons or  to lose weight. My hubs and I are always interested in eating a low-cal, low fat recipe that does not involve rabbit food. We are all about the comfort food. While I can appreciate a good salad and a side of fruit, it is just not his thing. For this reason I am always on the hunt for a hearty meal that has been lightened up. Hence, today's post reviewing Cooking Light's Enchilada Casserole found in their Jan/Feb 2012 edition.

Enchilada Casserole from Cooking Light

The recipe ( <-- click for the recipe) is ready in 40 minutes and what I especially like about Cooking Light is that they offer you a game plan (Rachel Ray's magazine does the same thing). This is a big help. What I HATE about some recipes that have "Ready In So Many Minutes"- claim is that they usually don't come anywhere near that time frame. They usually go over. This one doesn't. In fact, because I did not make the spicy black beans side that accompanied this recipe in the magazine, my time was shorter by five to ten minutes. Even if you make the beans and should see the 40 minute mark, then I promise you, this meal is really easy to make, even for a weekday.

While I usually try to stay true to a recipe, I did make some substitutions. First, I  added corn tortillas instead of whole wheat flour. To make the serving size of 4 spread out, I used extra layers of tortillas. I also used lean 96/4 ground beef instead of sirloin. I also used fresh minced garlic instead of minced garlic from a jar.  The casserole hit the spot. The only tip I would use when I make this recipe again (and I will make it again soon since the entire family liked it) is to dip the tortillas in the sauce tomato mixture before layering and baking. The tortillas need to be soft like a really enchilada. My casserole had al dente tortillas if that makes any sense, but it was still good.

What is the damage after it is all said and done? According to Cooking Light it is the following:

Calories- 377, Fat- 14.6g (sat 7g., mono 5.3g, poly 1.6g), Protein- 302g, Carb- 32.4g   (please visit the recipe for the rest of the nutritional values)

Not too shabby, when you consider the non-lightened up versions can run you up to twice that or more.

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Well, I am looking forward to starting up Tuesdays with Dorie soon. We will be baking from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.  I am sure my coworkers will enjoy it too, since they will be getting most of the goodies so that all my Cooking Light efforts are not in vain!