Mexican Chicken Casserole

My sister still gets Kraft Food & Family. I used to get it too, because it used to be free. Then they started charging something like $10 per year for it, and I got out. I mean sure, it's a nice magazine and all, but I'm not paying money for it. Especially if my sister is, and she just gives them to me when she's done. Ha ha. So she gave me last month's issue, and I swear it was like Mayonaisse Monthly. Almost every recipe had Miracle Whip, or some new Hellman's flavored mayo, like garlic and something, or chipotle. Also there is a new kind of Philadelphia cream cheese, called Cooking Creme, and there were a bunch of recipes in there for that too. I don't want to get used to a recipe that calls for an expensive ingredient right off the bat. So, surprisingly, I did not find any recipes in there that I wanted to make. However there was an insert with that mayo issue that is called Food & Family Best Loved: Quick and Easy Recipes. There are a few in there that I know I have made before, but a few that I don't think I have. So I am going to make a few of these over the next couple of weeks. Tonight's menu: Mexican Chicken Casserole. Because remember how I like Mexican food? Well, not real Mexican. If the scale of Mexican food ranges from Taco Bell to Miguel's (with Miguel's being actual Mexican food) I will stray toward the Taco Bell end every time. But I'm getting a bit better, I think.

Mexican Chicken Casserole
3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp ground cumin
1 green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 oz neufchatel cheese, cubed (now I have 6 more oz of this to use somewhere...)
1 can (15 oz) no-salt-added black beans, rinsed (I don't like canned things without salt...I think canning things robs the food of flavor, so why would I want to take away the salt, which redeems it somewhat?)
1 tomato, chopped
2 whole wheat tortillas (now I have to use 8 more of these somewhere...at least these aren't as hard to find a use for as neufchatel cheese...quesadillas later in the week for sure)
1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese, divided

Heat oven to 375. Cook and stir chicken and cumin in skillet sprayed w/ cooking spray on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add peppers; cook 2 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Stir in salsa; cook 2 minutes. Add neufchatel; stir and (can you guess?) cook 2 minutes or until melted. Stir in beans and tomatoes.

Spoon half of the chicken mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; cover with 1 tortilla and half each of the remaining chicken mixture and shredded cheese. Top with remaining tortilla and chicken mixture; cover.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake, uncovered, 5 minutes or until melted. 4 servings

Obviously you would need to double this if you have big appetites or more than 4-5 eaters, only 2 of which are grown-ups.

So, I forgot to put in the cumin! I was talking to my sister on the phone, not overly distracted (I didn't think), but so focused on what to put in next and cutting green pepper etc that I forgot it. But it was still really good. Nathan didn't like it, but he did eat the chicken out of it. Everybody else really liked it. Mine was soupier than the picture, but I didn't use chunky salsa like they recommended, I used Pace, which is my absolute fave salsa. So anyway it's a keeper. It's already in the book...