Casseroles are one of my favorite busy night meals. I can put all of the ingredients together ahead of time and then just put it in the oven to cook when I need to start making dinner. I don’t need to stand over the stove stirring any pots. I don’t have to worry about whether or not I cooked it for 27 minutes or 32 minutes. I can add a few more vegetables or a bit more starch to make it stretch just a bit further. I can generally substitute ingredients based on what I have in the pantry or what is on sale at the grocery store this week.
Everyone in my home loves Mexican food. Some Mexican dishes are more labor intensive than others. So, when I’m having a super hectic day, I turn to this Mexicali Casserole recipe.
The weather is turning a little colder so we’re starting to make some heartier meals like soups/stews, chili, casseroles and crock pot meals. And now that Baby C. can be partially entertained in her high chair for a few minutes if I pull her close to me in the kitchen, it’s giving me some extra time to try new things. So tonight we tried an enchilada casserole recipe that a friend gave me a bit ago.
My friend found the recipe in an issue of Taste of Home magazine and said that it had been voted #1 Casserole of 2010. I did make a few minor changes to suit our tastes; you can definitely do the same. And while I am sharing a photo of the final result, I will be honest: this is not a pretty, photos-well kind of dish. It’s bubbly and gooey and cheesy, so please forgive the quality of the image.
In a large skillet cook ground beef with the onion powder until no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, black beans, dressing, taco seasoning, corn, sour cream and cumin.
Spread ¼ of the meat mixture in the bottom of an 8×8 casserole dish. Sprinkle with ½ to 1 cup of cheese. Cover the cheese with 1 tortilla.
Continue layering meat mixture, cheese and tortillas until you've used all the meat mixture. The last layer should be a heavy covering of cheese (so no tortilla on the top of the last layer of cheese).
Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray and cover the casserole. Bake for 25 minutes or until it starts to get bubbly.
Serve with extra shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, crushed Doritos, tortilla chips or other sides.
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Mine turned out a bit more runny than I had expected. Next time I will probably use a “chunky” salsa to reduce some of the liquid. Also, I only used 2 tortillas because that’s what was listed in the recipe. But I suggested 4 in my above ingredient list. Hubby suggested that it could use more tortilla layers and also I think additional tortillas would give it extra stability and soak up a little extra liquid.
