Magic Mexican Casserole
Today, Katy shares a tasty family-friendly recipe:
Last summer, two amazing, unusual things happened. First, while visiting my in-laws, I actually had time to relax and read a magazine. Second, I clipped a recipe out of said magazine. I typically don't like to follow recipes and find that many "quick" magazine recipes are heavy on overly processed ingredients. But the enchiladas verde recipe I clipped looked tasty, healthy, gluten-free, and also easy to make vegetarian. Here's my modification (read: simplification) of the recipe, morphed into our new family favorite: Magic Mexican Casserole.
Ingredients:
- Cilantro, one large bunch including stems
- One cup sour cream*
- One jar salsa verde
- Corn tortillas (about 1 dozen)
- 5-6 cups of your fillings of choice, any large pieces chopped to 1/4-1/2 inch. This is a great use for leftovers; I recently used zucchini, onions, peppers, rotisserie chicken, and black beans.
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- Pepper to taste**
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 cups cheese (e.g., cheddar, mozzarella)
*You could try low fat sour cream or Greek yogurt to limit the fat, but this sauce truly requires something creamy to work. We have also found that this sauce (cilantro + sour cream + salsa verde) is extremely tasty as a dip or salad dressing, and even better to drizzle extra over servings of the finished casserole, so I now double the sauce whenever I make this dish.
**I don't add salt because many of the ingredients have salt already; with this dish it can be better to wait to taste the final product.
Assembly:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Make the magic flavor sauce: setting aside a small bunch of cilantro for garnish, combine remaining cilantro (including stems), sour cream, and salsa verde with a blender or food processor (I use my beloved immersion blender) and process until smooth.
2. Make filling. Chop and lightly saute or steam any raw veggies. Combine veggies with spices (coriander, chili powder, garlic, pepper) and protein (e.g., beans and/or chicken). Since the final baking of this casserole is only about 15 minutes, any cooking of filling ingredients needs to take place before assembly.
3. Steam tortillas by wrapping them in damp paper towels and tossing them in the microwave or a steamer for about a minute.
4. Assemble ingredients lasagna-style: First pour about 1/2 cup of the cilantro sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish (9 x 13 or oval casserole). Dip each tortilla into the sauce and then place in pan in a single layer, tearing tortillas as needed to fill gaps. Layer 1/3 of the veggie/protein filling over tortillas, followed by 1/4 of the cheese, and tortillas, continuing until you finish with a top layer of cheese.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and browning.
6. Serve with fresh cilantro and a drizzle of the sauce, or some chopped onions or olives. There's no sauce in this photo because we gobbled up all of the extra with chips while waiting for the casserole to bake! Enjoy!
Image credits: Katy of Boston Mamas