Mexican Lasagna Casserole

If I had a sparkler, I’d be waving it.  Our weekly conference call ended on time…in fact, it ended early! Yay!  So I actually managed to step away from my desk by 5:30 without leaving any stressful loose ends today. 

I celebrated with a hot shower.  Lovely!

Then headed downstairs to make dinner. 

Inspired by the Eat Shrink & Be Merry recipe for No Way Jose! but modified to suit what we had on hand.  It turned out pretty good…could have been a bit spicier, maybe a bit thicker (but I bet the leftovers are perfect) and I would have liked to have used black beans but FH isn’t a fan.

Mexican Lasagna Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, grilled and shredded(could use ground turkey or chicken)
• 1 tsp olive or veggie oil
• 1 cup diced red peppers
• 1 cup diced red onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1 small can green chilis
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• salt & pepper
• 3 large whole grain tortillas
• 2 cups shredded mozza (it’s what we had on hand)
• 3 chopped green onions

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Heat olive oil in large non-stick skillet over med-high heat.  Sautee peppers, onions and garlic with salt & pepper to taste.  About 3 minutes, until starting to soften.

• Add chicken, beans, corn, half the tomatoes, half the chilis, cumin and chili powder.  Stir and cook approx. 3 minutes until combined and simmering.  Add remaining tomatoes, chilis and salsa.  Bring to bubble for about 1 minute, then reduce heat to minimum and let simmer until juices reduce.

• Meanwhile, spray 9 inch round casserole dish with non-stick spray.  Trim tortillas to fit if necessary. 
• Layer 1/3 of filling, 1/4 of cheese, then tortilla.  Repeat x2. Finally, top with last 1/4 of cheese and green onions.

• Cover and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove cover and bake 10 minutes more.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting to serve.
• Makes 6 servings.

I topped mine with some quickie homemade guacamole…

Avocado, lime juice, salt, cumin & a few of the green chilis.

I did thaw out this VitaTop for dessert but have been sitting here for a couple of hours readings blogs and watching TV (yup, still loving the grown up Dawson on Mercy) and I’m still full from dinner so I think dessert will be breakfast.  :)

Mr. Stoopy says you should enter Last Night’s Leftovers’ giveaway for Quicken Cash Manager.  I say that my cat is giving away my chances to win.  But I guess I’ll forgive him.