Chicken Enchilada Casserole Revisited

I love ooey, gooey chicken enchiladas. In fact, there aren't many cheese-covered dishes that I don't like, especially Mexican ones. I've made enchiladas at home, even making my own sauce. The truth is, I'd rather eat them out than stuff and roll at home when I could be working in my studio or reading. Enter the casserole. I recently saw this casserole on Skinny Kitchen and could tell, based on the ingredients, that it would be a winner. I pretty much made it as directed except for bumping up the seasoning a bit and cooking it longer.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs honey
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded
3/4 cup fat free cottage cheese (or ricotta); I used Axelrod whipped cottage cheese, a bit higher in calories
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen and defrosted)
9 small corn tortillas
1 cup shredded 2% cheddar cheese
1 (10-12 oz) can red enchilada sauce
3 scallions, sliced
OPTIONAL:  6 tbs light sour cream  for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the honey, lemon juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Add the chicken, cottage cheese (or ricotta), and corn and refrigerate for 15 minutes or more.

Spray a 9 X 9 inch baking dish or pan with nonstick spray. Cut corn tortillas in half and use 3 per layer. Cutting them helps you to fit them into the square dish.

Spread 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in the baking dish and cover with 3 cut up tortillas. Spread on half the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 the shredded cheese. Add the second layer of cut up tortillas and spread with another 1/4 cup enchilada sauce before topping with the other half of chicken mixture and sprinkling with another 1/3 shredded cheese. Add the last layer of cut up tortillas. Spread on 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and top with chopped scallions and the remaining 1/3 cup shredded cheese.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover, and return to the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit, tented with foil,  for about 5 minutes to make it easier to slice.

Cut into 6 servings and top each with 1 tbs sour cream.
7 WW points per serving
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TASTE NOTES
I had only one complaint about this dish; the serving wasn't big enough. That was my "bad" because I inadvertently cut the casserole into 9 pieces instead of 6. Once I'd rectified that by having a bit more, I was sold.

I knew when I saw the cottage cheese in the recipe that this casserole would not be dry. I used whipped cottage cheese which made it indiscernible. If you use regular curd, you may want to put it through a sieve. The flavors were just wonderful and the extra time in the oven ensured that it was hot enough. I will be making this again and again because I really enjoyed it. Served with some black beans and a salad, it was definitely comfort food on a raw and rainy night.