Mexican Dishes

I haven't posted in a while because nothing has really rocked our world, but we did have some success this weekend! I made King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese from last month's Southern Living. So good! Two of our favorite things - yes, please! I see Macaroni and Cheese recipes all the time that look sooo good, but then I look at the ingredients (heavy cream, whole milk, four kinds of cheese) and I just can't bring myself to call that dinner. As far as macaroni and cheese goes, this recipe wasn't too bad, though I certainly wouldn't enter it in any Heart Healthy Recipe Contests. Plus, it had chicken and some veggies and it really did seem like a meal. We ate it with salad and tortilla chips and it was excellent.

King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese
Category: Main Dishes
Sub Category: Chicken
Source: Southern Living

8 oz cellentani pasta
2 T butter
1 med onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
10 oz Rotel
8 oz Velveeta, cubed
3 c chopped cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ c sour cream
1 t chili powder
½ t cumin
1 ½ c shredded Cheddar

1. Heat oven to 350. Prepare pasta according to package directions

2. Melt butter in large Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté 5 min or until tender. Stir in Rotel and Velvetta; cook, stirring constantly, 2 min or until cheese melts. Stir in chicken, next four ingredients and hot cooked pasta until blended.

3. Spoon mixture into lightly greased 11x7 baking dish; sprinkle with shredded Cheddar cheese

4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 min or until bubbly.

Notes: 1. I used penne pasta. Partially because that's what I had and partially because I don't know what that other pasta is. I also used whole wheat pasta and it was still good.

2. For the onion and green pepper, I used a cup of frozen diced Mexican blend (onions, celery and green bell peppers). It worked great. I'm a lazy cook.

3. I used canned chicken. Also worked fine. Still lazy.