comfort food, southwest style

I like cooking. I really do. But sometimes I just run out of fresh ideas, or feel too wiped out to try anything new and complicated. Thankfully, my guy is good at coming to dinner's rescue. He suggested enchilada casserole the other night - something I'd never made, but he assured me it was quick, easy and inexpensive... not to mention it would be an ample amount of food for all the boys. Perfect!

Enchilada Casserole

1 lb ground beef

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 can seasoned black beans, drained

4-6 large tortillas

2 small cans enchilada sauce

2-3 C shredded cheese    

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground beef, then stir in the taco seasoning and the beans. 

To assemble the casserole, spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish. Lay tortillas in a single layer over the sauce. Spoon some of the beef/bean mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle with cheese. Start the next layer with tortillas, spread with sauce, then top with beef/bean mixture and cheese. Continue layering until the ingredients are all used. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly on top.

gorgeous head of lettuce

While the casserole is delicious as is, accessories are always fun. We topped ours with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, and green and red onion.

Salsa and guacamole are pretty easy condiments to whip up at home. My guac is never made exactly the same way twice, but I can say that the basic ingredients are lots of ripe avocados, a little diced red onion, some Lawry's seasoned salt, hot sauce of some sort, and of course freshly squeezed lime juice.

The salsa I threw together is my mom's semi-homemade version - a lot quicker than her from-scratch canning recipe, and still delicious.

good on chips, burritos, tacos, enchilada casserole...

Mom's Easy Salsa

1 jar store-bought salsa

1 can seasoned black beans, drained

1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 can corn, drained

Cholula (or another hot sauce)

Fresh cilantro

Mix everything together. That's it. (I told you it was easy!) I have to say, I like this best when made the day before and refrigerated overnight so all the flavours can come together.

So there you have it... quick, easy, colourful, delicious. Just what I like in a weeknight dinner.

Cheers!