southern comfort loves comfort food

as you know from prior posts, i love (almost) everything southern - including southern food. our cuisine is almost never healthy, but always tasty. (case in point, the kentucky hot brown - a delectable dish created at the brown hotel in my city of louisville. who else but southerners would dream up a dish consisting of toast, turkey, bacon and tomatoes completely doused in a creamy, cheesy mornay sauce?). a great resource for good southern food is southern living - you know from prior posts how much i adore that magazine. as my mother always says, "i've never made a southern living recipe that didn't turn out great." a truer statement has never been made. i regularly pull recipes that look good (which is 99.9% of them). keep in mind that as a young(ish) woman juggling career and motherhood, i almost never get to cook anymore, but that doesn't keep me from noting recipes that look tasty on the off chance i might get to cook again some day soon.

case in point, i made an awesome southern living dish the other night that was super easy, super fast, and super tasty. it was very well received by my little household of 3 (well, 2 parents eating normal food, one baby eating your typical baby fare). the best part is that it was comfort food that wasn't too fattening - note that i said it wasn't "too" fattening, at least not in comparison to most of the recipes i find in southern living. try it out, i promise you won't be disappointed.


CHICKEN AND CORN PIES WITH CORNBREAD CRUST

ingredients:

1 (10-oz.) can enchilada sauce
1 (10-oz.) can mexican diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro, drained
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1 teaspoon chili powder
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (you can cook the chicken yourself, but for further ease, use 2 (12.5-oz.) cans chicken, drained, as recommended by sl - i did it and found it to work and taste great.)
1 (6-oz.) package mexican-style cornbread mix
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mexican four-cheese blend, divided
Toppings: sliced pickled jalapeño peppers, sour cream


1. preheat oven to 375°. stir together enchilada sauce and next 3 ingredients in a 3 1/2-qt. saucepan over medium heat until combined; cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. stir in chicken.

2. whisk together cornbread mix, next 3 ingredients, and 3/4 cup cheese in a small bowl just until blended.

3. pour chicken mixture into 5 lightly greased (10-oz.) ramekins. spoon cornbread mixture over hot chicken mixture. sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. divide ramekins onto 2 jelly-roll pans.

4. bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. serve with desired toppings.

Note: Mixture may be prepared in a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Bake as directed, omitting jelly-roll pans.

we topped ours with sour cream and diced jalapenos. i also thought this would be great with some black beans thrown in.