Enchilada Casserole

November 28, 2010 at 9:00 pm (reading, recipes)

This has become one of our favorites, to the point where I always keep enough ground turkey, enchilada sauce, and beans on hand to make it any time I don’t know what else to make for dinner. 🙂 This is courtesy of one of my former coworkers, Michelle, so I don’t know if she made it up or got it out of a cookbook.

Enchilada Casserole
~1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 can black or pinto beans
enchilada sauce (you’ll use about 1/4 of the big can)
cheese, grated, approximately 2-3 cups (I like to combine cheddar and mozzarella)
small corn tortillas

Brown the meat, drain, and set aside. Drain beans, and set aside. Pour a layer of sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish, then line with corn tortillas (my 9 x 13 pan works best if i cut the tortillas in half.) Try to get them as close together as possible, even overlapping, because it makes cutting/serving much easier! On top of the tortillas, put about 1/2 of the browned meat, 1/2 of the beans, and 1/3 of the cheese. Pour a little more sauce on, then add another layer of corn tortillas (again, it works best for me when they’re cut in half.) Add the rest of the meat, the rest of the beans, 1/3 of the cheese, and some more sauce. Add a final layer of tortillas, and top with sauce and the remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly inside.

The wonder of this recipe is its versatility – don’t have ground beef or turkey? Use chopped or shredded cooked chicken. Like it really juicy, like an enchilada? Pour on more sauce. Like it really cheesy? Add more cheese. Want some vegetables? Add peppers, olives, onions, etc… You get the idea. I’ve never been a strict recipe follower, so ideas like this are perfect for me. I can play around with it however I like. And, it freezes SO well! A 9 x 13 is enough for Tyler and I to each have seconds, and then have four servings left over. (So I’m going to guess that if you have 4 people, you can probably polish off a pan!)

BBC Book List update: I have checked out The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe… hoping to start reading this weekend. Really wondering if I’ll like them – I like CS Lewis’s nonfiction writing style, but I am not a fan of fantasy nor scriptural allegory most of the time. But I’m giving it a shot – I’m tired of people’s shocked expressions when they find out I haven’t read Chronicles of Narnia. 🙂