Make this tonight!

I know a lot of us are looking for new recipes to work into our weeknight repertoire and with the new year, a lot of us are watching what we eat. I made this Tortilla Chip Casserole last week and it was one of the best things I've made in a few years.

As usual, it comes from Cooking Light, as nearly all of my weeknight recipes do. They have delicious recipes that are light, but not too light. As in, they don't remove every trace of the good stuff, like cheese, but just use it sparingly. Really, I should be their spokesblogger. Cooking Light, are you listening? That would pretty much be my dream job. Or Southern Living. Anyway, about the recipe...

This Tortilla Chip Casserole is deliciously creamy, flavorful and easy! That has been my one problem with recipes I've made from Cooking Light, anything that requires me to cook the meat myself, I know to increase the "hands on time" listed on the recipe by at least 50%. Since this calls for cooked chicken, such as a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, the cooking time was 100% accurate. It took 30 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to bake in the oven.

I followed the recipe without making any changes or substitutions of my own (even buying organic black beans, which I normally don't do), as I try to do when making something for the first time; however, I did not have coriander. Even without that spice, it was delicious. Next time I will use the full can of black beans. I can't imagine why it didn't call for the full can in the first place. I mean, a single can of organic black beans is $2.50, and to use only half the can is such a waste. It makes the perfect amount, calling for a smaller 11x7 casserole dish, instead of the larger 13x9 dish.

I hope you'll try it and let me know what you think of it. Bon appetit! (Please read that in your best Julia Child voice.)