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This Santa Fe Chicken and Lentil Casserole is just as healthy and delicious as it is colorful and festive. It’s loaded with plenty of delicious chicken and vegetables and makes eight servings at about 380 calories per serving.

Hey, I like a good helping of that filling, good-old comfortable “guilt food” now and then, too, but sometimes, it is nice to push the boundaries somewhat and find something healthy and tasty outside the usual comfort zone. I haven’t used lentils often in my cooking (they just weren’t something Mother used much in her cooking, so I never really got good exposure to them at a young age), but I have to say, this is a really tasty casserole, and it manages to be relatively low-cal and low-sodium (each serving contains just 22.5% of the daily recommended amount) and have good helpings of dietary fiber, lean protein, and complex carbs. Kudos to Olena at iFOODreal for developing such a yummy and healthy original recipe.

Recipe and photo courtesy of iFOODreal

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Quick tip: Refrigerate covered for up to 3 days or freeze in an air tight container for up to 3 months.

Casseroles are rather convenient and often very flavorful, but not all of them exactly have a reputation for being extremely healthy.  If you are looking for a health-conscious, veggie-heavy casserole with rich flavor and creamy texture, this Healthy Spinach & Artichoke Casserole is an excellent choice! This is also a great way to make your kids eat their greens – with a recipe like this, it’s not going to be a problem!

I like spinach raw, in generous amounts in salad, and boiled artichoke with some salted butter is a nice treat, to me.  Not everyone is so keen on these vegetables in their basic or raw form, however, and after a while, they can be boring to eat by themselves.  Easy solution: mix them together with some cheese and bake them in a casserole.  Yummy!

Recipe and photo courtesy of iFOODreal

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Quick tip: You can make this ahead by freezing the dish assembled and bake from frozen, increasing baking time by about 15 – 20 minutes.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out what was in these, and your fellow eaters will be, too. These Cheesy Cauliflower Biscuits pack a lot of flavor, and they’re gluten-free and come in at just 25 calories per biscuit! Happy healthy snacking, which is simply great for all of us trying to watch what we eat!

If more people knew just what wonderful things cauliflower can be used to make, I’m not sure that the grocery stores would be able to keep it in stock!  Though that basic au gratin recipe is nice enough, I am a bit sad that I didn’t go past that for so long.  Needless to say, I am making up for lost time.  If you are a bit like me and have a tendency to enjoy that bread basket or appetizer plate a bit TOO much, I think that you will be happy to have a bunch of these to eat, guilt-free.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Simmer & Boil

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Quick tip: Try mixing some broccoli with the cauliflower!

I can see why this recipe was award-winning!  It’s really hard to believe that something as gourmet-tasting as this Mediterranean Seafood can be put together in only half an hour and be so healthy!

Not very many dishes go straight to my dash of Best Recipes, but this one did! Particularly when fall starts knocking on my door, I start thinking about hearty stews. And seafood is very much in my blood still, even if I am a few hundred miles away from the Gulf waters now.  Needless to say, I was really excited to come upon this little gem.  I couldn’t believe that something this tasty was only about 220 calories for a full serving, not to mention rich with all of those healthy omega-3 fatty acids that I keep hearing such good things about.

What surprised me the most was how much my whole family enjoyed this dish! I have two very picky eaters at home, and my husband is not that fond of seafood, either. But all three of them gobbled this up faster than I could say “Bon Appetit!”

Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home.

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Quick tip: Serve with fresh, homemade bread.

If you’re looking for a bit of a change to your chicken dinner routine, this rich and satisfying recipe is made for you. Don’t let the lovely creaminess fool you – only 300 calories per serving, this recipe is a warming winter wonder.  Packed with crab and shrimp, this recipe is truly a seafood splendor.

Imagine the scent of fresh cooked crab and shrimp simmering in a creamy corn chowder, and wafting throughout your kitchen.  Serve this hearty soup with a hunk of sourdough to truly complete the meal, or toss in a few oyster crackers. However you decide to serve this, it’s going to be gobbled up in a hearbeat. This might very well be your next family favorite!

Recipe and photo courtesy of Peonies and Pears

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Quick tip: This dish reheats beautifully!

There isn’t much out there that beats Latin American cuisine on the “comfort food” scale, but it doesn’t exactly have the reputation for being super-healthy, and if you go to enough Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants, you may feel that you are just ordering the same items over and over again, just with different names.  This tasty quinoa enchilada casserole is creative, original, filled with vibrant color…and HEALTHY! Wow!

If any region of the world has a comfort food tradition to rival good-old Southern soul food, it is Latin America.  Mexican and Tex-Mex food is nice, warm, and filling.  It’s relaxing.  It makes for good snack food, but it also makes for a great full meal.  And it’s not expensive at all.  You can’t go wrong with it, really.  Taco nights were a regular thing in my home when I was growing up, and I loved them.  I still have a bit of a tradition with Dad, when I go to visit him on the Gulf Coast:  On the day of my departure (pretty much the last thing I do before hitting the road back home, actually), we have lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  That journey back home isn’t typically a grand Zen experience for me, by any means, but that soothing fare puts me in the right mindset and helps the trip go along that much more easily.

Still, I find myself limiting my intake of Latin American dishes at this point in my life. Most Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in my part of the world don’t offer much in the way of variety, and let’s face it:  Most of the items served at these establishments won’t exactly be making an appearance on any Jenny Craig meal plan.  Not so with this recipe, though–it remains true to the tradition but offers it a much-needed, exhilarating breath of fresh air, and it’s healthy.  How healthy?  Well…

Recipe adapted by Damn Delicious

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Quick Tip: Serve with fresh homemade bread – such a yummy combination!