Thursday, January 20, 2011

Mexican Lasagna

Ok, the other night, I made dinner for my parents while they were here and it was awful.  We ended up getting KFC because the roast I used for French Dips was so tough I couldn't cut it let alone shred it.  I wish I would have made THIS meal when they were here because it was fantastic. (But I don't know if my dad would actually like it and my mom would pick out the black beans I think LOL) 

This is Mexican Lasagna and it is a recipe from Rachael Ray but I also found it at What Megans Making
(Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before we started eating LOL)

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (Because I used beef, I did not use oil in the pan)
  • 2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case (I used ground beef )
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped (I just used a regular onion)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
  • 1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes (I used mild taco sauce because of the kids - I did learn that one bottle of taco sauce does not a cup make! I need more!!)
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernels (I used a can of corn)
  • Salt
  • 8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market (I used 9 regular taco shells)
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped

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 taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted 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. 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.

My Notes:
I listed my changes in the ingredients above in italics - we don't really eat ground chicken or turkey; we are beef people :-)  I will say that this recipe could easily be cut in half.  We, as a family of 4, ate 1/2 of a 9x13 pan.  I served chips and salsa and a salad with it.  You could add another vegetable to the meal or even some really good Spanish rice and stretch the lasagna further. 

This was so good I told Darryl I might make it every night for dinner for a month because I'm tired of recipes not turning out LOL

Sorry Mom and Dad that you got the meal that was terrible!! :-(