Mexican Lasagna

This recipe comes from Rachel Ray.  We loooooved this dish.  It was relatively easy to make and was so, so good.  We topped ours with sour cream and served it with salad, chips, and guacamole.  Yum!

The recipe below is not Rachel's original, but how I altered it.  Hope you like it!  Also, it could easily be converted into a bare cupboard meal if you make the tortillas from scratch.  Or at least in this house since I'm ridiculous about always having black beans and canned tomatoes in the house.

Ingredients


3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14-oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) wheat flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped
sour cream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. (I used a round Corning Ward dish and didn't have to cut the tortillas!)  Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup


3 chicken breasts
Olive oil, a couple of glugs
3 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 bag frozen corn
1 medium onion, chopped
Lemon juice, few glugs
1 jar good chunky salsa
1 can rinsed black beans
2 cans chicken broth
Cumin to taste
Chili powder to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste

1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
1 bag tortilla chips

Directions:
Cook the chicken breasts.

Chop or shred into small pieces. (If you boil them it will be easy to shred them and you can then use that water instead of buying broth.)

Add all ingredients to crock pot except cheese and chips.

When thoroughly warm, serve with cheese sprinkled on top and chip in the side of bowl or crumbled on top.

good recipes I've tried recently

basil cream sauce:  it calls for light cream but, having no cream in the house, I used plain yogurt.  I also didn't really use the measurements, I just dumped and seasoned as I saw best.  the parmesean cheese and basil really flavored the sauce - it was very yummy - and I stirred it into a pasta dish with mixed veggies and meat.

sweet and savory slow cooker pulled pork:  I halved this recipe, used dr. pepper instead of root beer (it was all we had in the house) and eye-balled the measurements.  and it came out great!  sooooo yummy!

black bean rice burgers:  a friend shared this recipe with me for my meatless fridays.  I added a little cumin and red pepper for extra kick, but they were otherwise tasty.  they kinda fell apart a bit, but I think that's because my sour cream was soupy and my rice a little water-y.

All of these recipes I will be making again.