This finished dish never lasts more than two days in our house.  It’s that tasty.  It’s hard to even put it in the fridge, you just want more.  It’s a perfect meal: protein of the beans and chicken, carb of the tortilla chips, fat of the cheese (and optional sour cream), and veggies: salsa, green onion, and beans (which have fiber too).  It’s just perfect, believe me.  You can health it up by doing multigrain or high fiber tortilla chips.

—–I put some ground cumin on my raw chicken, pan-fried it with some olive oil (via the Misto), let it rest 5 mins, then I chopped it into bite-sized pieces.  I am not often a fan of shredding, it takes forever.

—–I used organic low sodium black beans.  If you only have regular black beans, drain and rinse them multiple times – it removes 40% of the salt!

Makes 6 servings

Prep Time 10 Mins.

Oven Time 15 Mins.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz. baked or regular tortilla chips (c’mon put some more in the pan, live a little. I did probably 10 oz.)
• 2 cups (8 oz.) cooked shredded chicken
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and DRAINED**
• 1 cup jarred salsa or Picante sauce (or add more!)**
• 1 cup shredded reduced-fat or regular Mexican cheese blend**
• 4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (I used green onions)**
• Optional: sour cream as a topping right before serving
• Optional variation: replace chicken and beans with 1/2 LB. coarsely chopped cooked shrimp and 1 can (8 oz.) drained crushed pineapple**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. If you do not already have your chicken cooked and ready, cook it now.  Let it rest a few minutes before chopping or shredding.
3. Line bottom of a 13x9x2″ baking dish with tortilla chips.
4. Scatter cooked chicken and beans over the chips.
5. Spoon salsa over the beans and top with cheese and scallions (or green onions).
6. Bake at 350 for 15 mins. until heated through and cheese is melted.
7. Serve immediately!  (Who could wait anyway?)