Tamale Turnaround

This recipe was created by a woman who said she "came up with this dish to satisfy my craving for tamales I had a Mexican restaurants when I was growing up in Houston. Homemade tamales are too time-consuming to prepare for weeknight meals, but I discovered a corn bread mix approximates the flavor." The second I read this I couldn't help but think of the the tamales I ate growing up. When I was younger there was an establishment called "Ben's" that made the most amazing tamales ever. They were beef tamales and you could order them for delivery right to your door. They came wrapped individually in thin paper (not corn husks) and your entire order was surrounded in grease-soaked newspaper. I know that doesn't seem appetizing at all, but Ben's tamales were amazing. At any time I could convince my Daddy to order a dozen tamales. It is one of my childhood food memories that I will never forget.

Chicken Tamale Casserole
Cooking Light November 2008

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese ( I used reduced fat 2% blend)
  
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn ( I used regular corn - I hate cream corn)
  
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast ( I used a rotisserie chicken )
  
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl,

stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork;

pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken (I also added about 3 Tablespoons of the enchilada sauce to the chicken to moisten it a bit;

sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.

Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

This casserole was very delicious. The healthy aspect of it was a far cry from the tamales of my childhood, but that was a welcome change. It was also very easy to make. You could throw this meal together in no time at all on a busy weeknight. Next time I will add jalapenos to the cornbread mix to spice it up a bit, but other than that this was a winner!