Cheesy Layered Taco Bake

Hotdish Adventures

This is one of my favorite make-ahead Lean and Green recipes, based on a very popular recipe from Sandy's Kitchen.  This dish provides about 2/3 of a lean serving and about 1/2 of a green serving, so I like to use it as a base for a taco salad, or top it with an over-easy egg for breakfast.  If you're in Maintenance, you could add some black or pinto beans into the meat mixture. 

If you are making this ahead of time, bake the base layer and top it with the meat and cheese.  Bake it again to melt the cheese and heat everything through when you are ready to serve.  I haven't tried freezing it yet, but it should freeze well.

Ingredients

1/2 cup 1% milkfat cottage cheese, blended (1/3 lean)
1/4 cup Eggbeaters (1/8 lean)
1/4 cup milk (4 condiments)
3 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese, divided (3 leans)
1 lb 93% lean ground beef - about 11 oz cooked (2.2 leans)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
2 cans Rotel diced tomatoes and chiles, drained (about 4 greens)

Directions

Brown ground beef and drain fat. For a fine, even texture, mash the beef with a potato masher while it is cooking.  Add taco seasoning and prepare as directed on package.  We usually do this ahead of time, and make multiple batches of taco beef for other dishes or for the freezer. 

Blend cottage cheese until smooth.  Mix in Eggbeaters and milk.  Spray 9 by 13 pan with cooking spray.  Spread 2 cups of shredded cheese over the bottom of the pan.  Pour the cottage cheese mixture over the shredded cheese, covering the bottom of the pan evenly.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, until lightly browned.

Mix Rotel tomatoes with the taco beef. If the chiles in the Rotel tomatoes are too spicy for your taste, you can use petite diced tomatoes instead.  Spread meat/tomato mixture over the baked cheese layer.  Top with remaining cup of cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until the meat filling is hot and the cheese topping is melted.

Serves 8
Per serving, 2/3 lean, 1/2 green, 2 1/2 condiments
247 calories, 13.3 grams fat, 904 mg sodium, 5.5 grams carbohydrates, 0.6 grams fiber, 27 grams protein