Saturday, March 2, 2013

Mexican Lasagna

Mexican Lasagna


Tim and I walked into Wegmans a couple of weekends ago discussing the same conundrum we hash out every time we go grocery shopping...what should we have for dinner this week? I am ALWAYS in the mood for something with a Mexican flair and Tim (who is not always craving flavahs from South of the Border) was in agreement, so we made some light and fresh chicken tacos. We roasted four boneless skinless chicken breasts and then shredded the meat. We added three packets of Sazon seasoning, cumin and cayenne to the shredded meat. The we mixed up pico de gallo as well as guacamole. Our tacos for a week were composed of the delicious chicken, pico, guac, cheddar, black beans and a dollop of light sour cream all wrapped up in a soft corn taco shell...YUM!

So what's the catch? We used FOUR chicken breasts! What were we thinking? We had tacos all week long and STILL had leftover chicken (as well as leftover shells). We were tacoed out (shhh...don't tell the Taco Bell chihuahua...or my beloved Chipotle!) but wanted to find a use for the still tasty leftovers. Hence, this Mexican Lasagna was born. And oh my word it was delicious! What a way to use leftovers! We are hooked and are already discussing ways we might tweak it next time. Here is what I did:

 
Ingredients


12 Corn tortilla shells
15 Oz. enchilada sauce
2 Cups cheese, shredded (I used a mix of cheddar and Jack)
1 1/2 Cups taco meat (we had the shredded chicken)
1 Bag frozen southwest vegetable blend, defrosted (mine was peppers and onions)
1 15 Oz. can black beans, drained
Sour cream for topping


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.


To assemble this fiesta-fit feast, I used a 7x11 baking dish and began by spreading a few spoonfuls of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish to prevent sticking.


Then I layered three of the taco shells on top of the sauce.


I topped the shells with one third of my chicken,


Followed by one third of my vegetables,


A nice big handful of beans,


And a sprinkle of cheese.

Then I put on more three more tortillas and spread a generous helping of sauce on top of them. After that I repeated the chicken, vegetables, beans and cheese as well as the taco shells and enchilada sauce until I had three layers (I gently pressed down on the taco shells after each layer to help it all fit in the dish :-)).


On top of the final layer of cheese, I placed a final layer of tortilla shells,


a generous pour of sauce to keep everything moist


and a sprinkle of cheese.

Then I baked it for 25 minutes, until it was bubbling and heated through.


I let it sit for a couple of minutes and then sliced it, topping each slice with sour cream. It was absolutely delicious and did not feel at all like a leftover remake!

 
Now, if only I could figure out new purpose for my holey socks...

1 comment:

  1. Nice stuff Chelsea, looking great. Grtz Bernie

    ReplyDelete