File this under "Things I Found in My Pantry" or perhaps "Let's See What This Tastes Like". I had a couple of tortillas left from making Breakfast Burritos, and I didn't feel like just spreading something on them and eating them. Since I also had some Mexican taco blend shredded cheese left, I decided to make a casserole.
I'm actually going to include two recipes here, since I didn't have any refried beans in the house. I did, however, have several cans of black beans, so I made my own. Authentic? Probably not. But they tasted good and worked, so I wrote it up.
Other than those, tortillas, canned chicken, Ro-Tel, diced tomatoes, corn, salsa, and cheese. Simple ingredients for a simple dinner that took almost no time to throw together and bake.
First thing I did was make the refried black beans. I didn't take pictures of the process because they were a means to an end and it didn't occur to me, but it took about 10 minutes. Heat up some olive oil, add onion and saute a few minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, and cumin, and saute another couple minutes. Add the rinsed and drained black beans and saute a few minutes. Smash the beans with the back of a spoon, adding water as necessary for texture, and then cook until heated through and fairly smooth. Easy!
Then I mixed together the chicken (drained), the Ro-Tel (undrained), and the tomatoes (drained). I also added some more chili powder and cumin to this mixture. In retrospect, I should have also drained the Ro-Tel, since the end result was pretty watery. Not bad, just more liquid than I would have liked. I'm writing the recipe to drain all three things.
I put about 1/4 cup of salsa in the bottom of my three-quart casserole dish, then laid a tortilla on top of it. Then I spread about half the beans on the tortilla.
About half the corn (drained) went on top of the beans, spread fairly evenly.
On top of that, about half the chicken and tomato mixture. That I tried to spread all the way to the edges as much as I could, while the other items I didn't worry about so much.
This was probably about 2/3 of the bag of cheese. I wanted some for the top, but if you get too much cheese on top it sometimes ends up a greasy mess, even with pre-shredded cheese.
I then repeated the layers, omitting the salsa since I had the chicken and tomatoes. As you can see, this almost overfilled my casserole dish, so make sure you don't use a smaller one. Larger might even be better if you have one. My next option was 9x13, and that wouldn't work since I only had two tortillas left, but if you want to use four tortillas so you can place two side-by-side, a 9x13 would work well.
Into the oven it went, for about 30 minutes. It was just starting to bubble over the edge of the casserole when I took it out, but luckily I caught it before too much ended up on the bottom of my oven. Then I let it stand about 10 minutes before dishing it out, hoping it would set up some. That's when I discovered I had too much liquid, because it never really did solidify. Live and learn!
I served it with some Easy Spanish Rice (I'll add that recipe at the end here, too), and some cottage cheese for contrast in colour, temperature, and taste. In all, not bad for a meal that started with two tortillas! Somehow I didn't take a picture, but I also served salsa, sour cream, and guacamole on the side.
Chicken Tortilla Bake
Serves 10
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (10 ounce) can Ro-Tel, drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup salsa
2 medium flour tortillas
1 (30 ounce) can refried black beans (or make your own using recipe below)
1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
8 ounces shredded taco cheese
Preheat oven to 350F; coat an at least 3-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, diced tomatoes, Ro-Tel, chili powder, and cumin until well-blended. Make sure to break up any large chunks of chicken so it more resembles shredded meat.
Spread salsa in bottom of casserole and lay a tortilla on top of it. Layer, in order, half the refried beans, half the corn, half the chicken and tomato mixture, and 2/3 to 3/4 of the cheese. Lay another tortilla on top and repeat the layers, ending with cheese.
Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, until heated through and just starting to bubble. Remove from oven and let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.
If desired, serve with additional salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole.
Serving Size: 267g
Calories: 280
Calories from Fat: 85
Total Fat: 9.5g
Saturated Fat: 5.2g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol: 47mg
Sodium: 575mg
Total Carbohydrates: 27.2g
Dietary Fiber: 6.1g
Sugars: 4.6g
Protein: 23.1g
*Figured using canned refried black beans, not homemade.
Easy Refried Black Beans
Serves 6
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 (15 ounce) cans no-salt added black beans, rinsed
3 tablespoons water
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add beans and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Crush beans with back of spoon until almost completely smooth. Stir in water (add a little at a time) to desired consistency. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Serving Size: 160g
Calories: 233
Calories from Fat: 40
Total Fat: 4.4g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 29mg
Total Carbohydrates: 37.0g
Dietary Fiber: 13.6g
Sugars: 2.2g
Protein: 13.4g
Easy Spanish Rice
Serves 6
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup onion, diced
1 1/4 cups brown Minute Rice
3/4 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup salsa
1 (10 ounce) can no-salt added Ro-Tel, drained
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until soft. Add rice and cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients, stir to mix well, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Remove cover, stir, and continue simmering 5 minutes more, or until liquid has been absorbed.
Serving Size: 162g
Calories: 206
Calories from Fat: 53
Total Fat: 5.9g
Saturated Fat: 0.9g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Total Carbohydrates: 34.9g
Dietary Fiber: 2.9g
Sugars: 2.1g
Protein: 4.1g
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