One-Pan Tex-Mex Meal

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Have you ever had one of those diet frozen meals? You know, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, that kind of stuff? Do you ever wonder how they’re absolutely chock-full of sodium but they still taste like they are in major need of salt? How is that possible? And salt is just the beginning. They also seem to lack any sort of discernible flavor (and color) altogether. Now, I’ll be honest. It’s not that I never have these types of meals (though I do prefer versions by Trader Joe’s, Amy’s & Kashi). Sometimes, they’re just incredibly easy to throw in a bag and head to work on days you don’t have leftovers or a lot of food around. But on those days, I always dread lunch. Every time, I think about just dropping the money and getting myself a better lunch.

I’ve always thought that if I worked in the food industry, one of the things I would be awesome at is creating low cal 1-dish meals, like Lean Cuisines, that had flavor. Now, of course this meal is about 100 calories more than your average Lean Cuisine. But, it’s also a bigger portion (so you’re not  hungry 20 minutes later), has all real ingredients, and actually tastes like something…and that “something” isn’t the different Lean Cuisine Meal you had the other day. (Yeah, how is it that chicken parmesan and chicken Santa Fe taste pretty much the same?)

As you’d imagine with the lack of an oven (by the way, Jenn-Air customer service? Right up there with AT&T and Comcast), I’ve become quite the pro at stove-top meals. I guess I’ve always liked making them, though. They’re easy to do, make for easy cleanup, and for some reason or another heat better for leftovers that most meals.

Technically, this one required two posts (see my note below a bout parboiling rice) but still came together incredibly quickly and easily, and used up the random portions of ingredients, like sour cream and chipotles, that I had sitting in the fridge. It’s has just a little kick from the chipotle, a little creaminess from the sour cream & cheese, and some crunch from the green onion. Serve this with a salad and a XX beer and you’re good to go!

One-Pan Tex-Mex Meal

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15 thoughts on “One-Pan Tex-Mex Meal

  1. This sounds really good! I too have been known to buy those yucky freezer meals. Though, these days, all I ever buy (when I do break down) is Kashi meals. At least I can pronounce everything in it! 🙂

  2. I love adobo sauce and this chicken looks super flavorful with all the spices you used! And it’s healthy and full of protein – what a great dish!

  3. I love Tex-Mex more than any other food, so I will definitely have to try this! It looks delicious!

  4. Who cares if this has 100 extra calories! It looks and I bet, tastes better than any “Lean Cuisine”…very healthy Elly!

  5. This looks really good, and Iove the one dish meals. I made something similar with tomatillos and jalapenos – think I need to pull out that recipe again!

  6. Generally it is so easy to make low-cal low-fat meals at home that buying frozen “diet” meals is really not worth the money or their lack of flavor. This is a great dish and I will be making it for my “it’s-almost-summer diet” :-p

  7. Fabulous looking dish and with the use of herbs and certain ingredients you’ve created a flavour and salt merely enhances everything. I’d hire ya! 😉

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