May I have your attention please? Oh please, stay, salivate, read on.
While I commute to Manhattan, I’ve noticed most people are either on their Kindle or IPad or IPhone, and well, I own none of them. Instead of consuming myself in some gadget,
I just look around and observe people’s shoes, I’m shoe obsessed, and at least I get an idea of what’s in fashion.
I admit though, there are days I take a nap on the train if I’m lucky enough to snag a seat. My husband thinks I’ll pass out for real one day and will end up in Queens – YIKES!
Other times when I’m awake, I tend to zone into my own little world of cooking where I think of new concoctions.
Here is one such recipe I thought of while commuting to work – Mexican Lasagna.
This dish is a cross between Mexican Enchiladas and Italian Lasagna. It contains all the flavors you would expect from Mexican food in combination with the lasagna layers.
I have to say this dish is goooooooooood, actually it is pretty damn good, seriously one of my best! I ate a good chunk of it lunch time, and then I had some more for dinner, and then I had some more for dinner the next day.
The beans combined with the soft tortillas soaked in an Enchilada sauce and gooey cheese melted in my mouth.
And if you are a lush like I, wash it down with a Gold Margarita on the Rocks. And if you didn’t already know, I love Mexican food with alcohol.
NUTRITION: Whole Wheat Tortillas are a great source of Protein and Fiber. Beans are an excellent source of Protein and Fiber. Tomatoes are a good source of Vitamin A and C. Although high in fat, cheese is an excellent source of Protein and Calcium and should be eaten in moderation.
INGREDIENTS:
INGREDIENTS:
- Mission Multi-Grain Flour Tortillas – 6 (cut into halves)
- Old El Paso Refried Beans Green Chilies – 1 (1 pound) can
- Goya Black Beans
– 1 (15.5 ounce) can - Ortega Taco Seasoning – 1 tbsp (for beans)
- Onions – 2 (diced)
- Plum Tomatoes – 2 (diced)
- Jalapeno – 1 (deseeded & finely chopped)
- Ortega Taco Seasoning – 2 tbsp (for veggies)
- Old El Paso Mild Enchilada Sauce – 1 (19 ounce) can
- Mexican Blend Cheese – 2 handfuls for each layer (use reduced fat if fat/calories are a concern)
- Fresh Cilantro – handful (chopped)
– 1 (15.5 ounce) can
– 1 tbsp (for beans)
– 1 (19 ounce) canDIRECTIONS:
1. Here are the veggies you need.
2. Chop the veggies and add them to a mixing bowl.
3. Top with 2 tbsp of Taco Seasoning. Mix well and set aside.
4. In a food processor ( I love Cuisinart), add a can of black beans.
5. Add the refried beans.
6. Pulse until well blended.
7. Add 1 tbsp of Taco Seasoning.
8. Blend again. Set aside.
9. Preheat the oven at 400 degrees.
10. Cut the 6 tortillas in half.
11. In a 9”x13” baking dish, add 3 ladles of Enchilada Sauce. Spread until the baking dish is well coated.
12. Place 4 pieces of tortillas.
13. Add 3 big spoons of beans.
14. Spread.
15. Add the veggies.
16. Add the Enchilada Sauce – 3 ladles at a time.
17. Top with 2 handfuls of cheese – less or more.
18. Repeat steps 12 to 17… starting with tortillas, beans, veggies, Enchilada Sauce, cheese. Do this process 2 more times – so 3 layers in total.
19. After the 3rd layer, once you are done topping the casserole with cheese, just spoon the remaining Enchilada Sauce over the cheese.
20. Love the layers.
21. Into the oven for 25 minutes.
22. In the meantime chop the cilantro and you can clean up. 
23. Oooooh… gimme some of that cheesy, gooey, melted cheese with Enchilada Sauce.
24. Top with cilantro.
25. Wait about 10 minutes before serving yourself, let the flavors combine.
TELL ME: Do you think of food recipes while you commute to work or am I just food obsessed? Also, if you tried this recipe, what do you think?
This looks amazing!
Definitely trying this out next week.
I love this! Mexican is really popular where I live (in Oklahoma), so everyone around here would probably be a fan 🙂
Using corn tortillas would really add a lot of flavor
you need to do a printable version of these receipes. I am going to try this one tonight.
mini
@Mini – Please copy and paste the "directions" section into NOTEPAD, this will eliminate the pictures. This is a work around.
Thanks.
Thanks for the printer directions, it really helped!
So made this last night for the family, and they licked their plates clean, even my finicky little one. Didn't add any chilli as I didn't have any, but worked well as the kids don't handle spices too well anyway. The little one had his with sour cream and loved it. Thanks! Will be making this again!
Mini
This looks absolutely incredible!
YUM
My husband and I rarely cook, but we decided to make this last Wednesday. It was DELICIOUS, and it only took 30 mins to prepare before going in the oven (that, considering we are novices, is pretty great). Thanks for sharing… maybe we will start cooking at home more often 🙂
@Anonymous – so glad to hear this dish turned out delicious for 2 novices 🙂 that's my goal! I appreciate your comment.. and let me know what else you decide to try.
My hubby made this for dinner tonight. It was yummy! Everyone except me had seconds. There is only one piece left…lunch tomorrow! 🙂
Just made this earlier tonight…all I can say is O.My.Goodness! This was delicious and really easy to make. I substituted reduced fat black beans and less sodium taco seasoning and still did not lose flavor. This recipe is also not that bad in the way of calories, about 350.
@callmekathos – love hearing that. So glad you reduced the fat without losing the flavor. I think the only unhealthy item is the cheese, and cheese is good for you in moderation. 🙂
Just made this for dinner and it was great! I love to post recipes I like on my blog so that I don't lose track of them, would you mind if I reposted this on my blog (with full credit to you and a handful of changes I made)?
Thanks!
@fifteenminuteplan – of course!!! thanks so much for your feedback. Do let me know what changes you made, I'd love to know.
Thanks! I'll post the link below so you can see. Please forgive me for the terrible photo though– I need to work on that 🙂
http://fifteenminuteplan.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/vegetarian-mexican-lasagna/
I just discovered your blog through a friend and made this for dinner last night – it came out amazing and so delicious! I am addicted to your recipes, thank you for sharing! The step-by-step pics are a huge help for a cooking novice like myself :).
@Anonymous – that makes me so happy to hear. Glad this recipe worked out for you, and glad to hear the step-by-step images help. 🙂
I know this is an old article but I was searching for something vegetarian that could last a few days and the pics for this recipe looked so yummy, I had to try it. It came out so wonderful and so easy to make. I don't have a food processor so I just whipped and mashed the beans up and it came out excellent. My teen(who is very picky when it comes to vegetarian meals) had TWO LARGE plates of this meal. Thanks so much for sharing!
@Auset. Thank you so very much… That means a lot. So glad your teenager child enjoyed it. 🙂
Made this tonight – DELICIOUS!
Added sauteed peppers and onions (garlic too).
Thank you SO much!
I made this last night and my husband LOVED it. Thank you so much for posting this recipe. BTW, do you know any delicious Quinoa recipes? I love spicy food and was looking for a spicy quinoa recipe but didn't find anything interesting. Would love if you could post something.
Thanks
AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH QUEENS?
You must be Indian…I see that thepla utensil you are using 🙂 Definitely going to make this on Wednesday, having yummy Dosa tomorrow 🙂
Yes, I am. What is a thepla? This dish is yummy… hope you like it. 🙂
I made this tonight and WOW what a great dish! So much flavour! Definitely adding this one to my favorites! Thank you!!!