Wednesday: Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

I have a love / hate relationship with Wednesdays; on one hand, my husband is not home so neither the kids or I get to see him and that kind of sucks. On the other hand, I get to do vegetarian food! Yay!

This is a really easy casserole that I make about once a month; once for supper then lots of lunches. The kids like it because it has beans. I bet I could get them to eat anything if I put beans in it. Hmmmm...

You will need:

1 c (4 oz) shredded low-fat cheese (I like Tex-Mex 30% less fat), divided

250 ml low-fat sour cream (you can go full-fat or non-fat, I like it in the middle)

1/3 c green onions, minced (I've substituted raw red onions in the past, but they have to be minced quite finely or they won't cook all the way through)

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 c brown basmati rice (which we just happen to have left oven from Monday's dinner)

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped, seeds removed if you are a baby (I used jarred when I can’t find them fresh)

19 oz enchilada sauce (best place to find is Safeway, cheap and is usually in stock. Get two small jars)

10 medium (6") tortillas. Here is where you can get funky – I usually do either 4 large flour tortillas or 12 little corn ones.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13 x 9 pan with oil. Mix half of the cheese with the next 9 ingredients (sour cream to jalapeno), set aside.

Pour 1/4 c of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the 13 x 9 pan and smear it around, heat the rest for two minutes in a wide saucepan. Dredge half of the tortillas, one at a time, both sides, in the warm enchilada sauce and place on the bottom of the casserole pan. The best way I have found to dredge these is to use a pair of silicon-covered tongs. Then they don't tear as they get warm! Make them overlap, and make sure there is no pan left uncovered.

Thank you Ikea!

Getting all artistic

Dump about half of the rice / bean mixture on top of the tortillas in the casserole pan; then dredge the rest of the tortillas and place them on top. 

Like a Mexican-style lasagna! Except not from anywhere near Mexico

Cover with the rest of the rice / bean mixture and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. If there is any enchilada sauce left over, throw that on too.

I usually don't have THAT much enchilada sauce, yay!

Bake for 30 minutes at 350, it should be bubbling and the cheese should be melted.

Sooo yummy

Add a salad. With salad stuff in it. And there you have it! Enjoy!