Heart-healthy , low-fat recipes: December 2015

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

MEXICAN RICE AND BEAN BAKE

From Betty Crocker's New Eat and Lose Weight

makes 6 servings

two cups brown or cooked rice
1 egg
1 1/2 picante sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can pinto beans

Heat oven to 350. Spray square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches, with cooking spray. Mix rice, egg, 1/2 cup of picante sauce, 1/2 cup of cheese, and the chili powder. Press in bottom of dish.

Mix beans and remaining 1 cup picante sauce; spoon over rice mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

1 serving:
calories 195
calories from fat 35
fat g 4
saturated fat g 2
sodium, mg 440
carbs, g 35
dietary fiber, g 8
protein, g 13

Tips for using these recipes

I do not used canned beans, although that's what the recipes call for. I buy dry beans in a one-pound bag, cook them with no salt, drain them, and divide them into four freezer bags to use in my recipes. Each bag is a very generous substitue for a can of beans, and there's no salt added. Even accounting for the cost of propane to cook them for an hour and a half, they're still a third the cost of canned beans. I always have a supply of pinto beans, black beans, red or kidney beans, and garbanzo beans in the freezer ready to use in recipes.

If we have leftover holiday turkey, I freeze it in two-cup portions and use it in place of chicken in any of these recipes. Lacking leftover poultry, I buy a ten-pound bag of chicken leg quarters, boil the whole mess in plenty of water, remove skin and bones when it's cool, and put it in the freezer in two- and four-cup amounts. I cool the broth it was cooked in, remove the fat, and bag it up for the freezer; canned chicken broth is diluted and salted, and costs a dollar a can. From the ten pounds of chicken that cost me five or six dollars, I get eight to ten cups of diced chicken and at least a dozen two-cup portions of broth.