Fall

Fall
My Favorite Time of the Year

Friday, February 1, 2013

Enchilada Casserole

Now I'm not a big casserole person. Not because I don't like them. Casseroles just aren't something I'm super drawn to. I think in my younger years I made a lot of casseroles and as I learned to cook, I just moved on past them. Well they have been back on my mind of late. Now that I'm back in school full time (I have been for the past year.) I think something easy for the Sasquatches is a good thing. So I have a renewed interest in casseroles. I saw this on  Pinterest. Don't ask me how cause I'm not a member. The joys of surfing the endless lanes of the internet I guess. Anyway, after some work I did find the recipe. Now I'm sorry I can't remember the blog. It was "Cook you butt off" or "Get off your butt and cook" I'm sorry I don't remember exactly. But I did give this a try. I thought it was good (better the second day.) My Sasquatches (all of them) loved it. Big hit. Going into the rotation as it was pretty easy to make.

So here it is and any changes I made or will make.

Enchilada Casserole
 (I doubled the recipe and it made two 9x13 size pans. Well actually mine were oval but around that size.)

 This will make one pan full.
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 med/large onion, chopped
2 Cups Salsa (you decide on the heat. We used medium.)
1/4 Cup reduced fat Italian dressing (trust me, would I lie to you)
3-4 Tbl. taco seasoning mix. (I started out using two but thought it needed more.)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 (15oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1small can corn nuggets, drained (I think I just bought a regular size can and used it all. It is all good.)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup minced cilantro
8-8inch round (or so) flour tortillas, you want two layers of tortillas. I put whole ones on and then tore up some to fill in where needed. I also am going to try corn next time.

2-4 Cups mexi cheese blend ( the original recipe called for 2 Cups, but we love us some cheese.)

Serve with: tortilla chips, shredded lettuce and tomatoes.  I also put out a jar of mild jalapenos to add if wanted. They added a great kick.
preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Fry beef and onions in pan. Drain off any fat (my meat was pretty lean even though it was 85/15) I had just a small amount of juice. So I didn't drain the beef and onions. I just left it.)
Stir in salsa, Italian dressing, taco seasoning, cumin, drained beans and corn. Stir and simmer to let some of the juice evaporate. About 10 minutes or so. I didn't want to lose all the sauciness just cook it down some. Then add the sour cream and cilantro. Stir to combine and remove from heat.
In your baking pan spoon a thin layer of meat mixture on the bottom and then a little cheese. Lay a layer of tortillas and then meat and cheese and repeat. You will have two layers of tortillas and end with a meat then cheese layer.
You can cover it or not depending on if you want your cheese to brown. Bake till bubbly and heated through ( 15-25 minutes.)

NOTE: next time I am going to try and add a can of chopped green chilli's and see how that is. The opportunities are endless with this.