Mexican Lasagna
Mexican and Lasagna, a blend of two cultures but one that works very well. This is a recipe I discovered in Taste of Home Magazine several months back, and was good enough to land on the repeat list. I made this two nights ago, and it makes so much we had it again last night. It definately is a two in a row meal, or you could freeze half for a later date. This is a great dish for those of us watching our weight, because it uses ground chicken instead of the usual beef and is made with whole wheat tortillas. I will give you a calorie breakdown at the end for those keeping track.
Mexican Lasagna With Chicken, Corn & Black Beans-Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chicken ($2.49)
1 cup. each diced red onions and diced green pepper (I used regular onion, it's what I had on hand) (.15/.50)
2 tsp. minced garlic (.10)
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed. (.67)
1 cup diced tomatoes (used a can of diced tomatoes, turned out great) (.79)
1/2 cup frozen or canned corn (.25 1/4 of a bag of frozen corn bought on sale for $1.00)
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder (PI)
1 tsp. ground cumin (PI)
1 jar pasta sauce (1.45)
1 cup medium salsa (used up the other half of the jar from Santa Fe Chicken) (.80)
1/4 tsp. black pepper (PI)
2 Tbs. minced fresh cilantro (use if you have but I forgot it and it still turned out great)
6 large or 8 small whole wheat flour tortillas (.84)
2 cups shredded cheddar or mexi blend cheese ($1.97)
sour cream optional (.15)
1/4 cup chopped green onion (optional didn't have, didn't use turned out fine)
*PI (Pantry Item)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large non-stick pot or skillet, cook ground chicken, onions, green pepper and garlic over medium high heat until meat is no longer pink. Break up any large pieces of chicken as it's cooking. Add black beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin. Cook and stir 2 more minutes. Add pasta sauce (reserving 1/3 cup to spread on bottom of baking dish), salsa and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 5 more minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat. To assemble lasagna, spread 1/3 cup of pasta sauce over bottom of casserole dish. Top with 1/3 of the tortillas, overlapping and cutting them as necessary to fit. Top with 1/3 sauce mixture, followed by 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat twice, ending with final 1/3 of sauce and remaining cheese.
Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Let lasagna stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. Top each piece with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped green onion, if desired.
Per serving: 319 calories, 7.9 g total fat
(Salad was a freebie, left over from another meal)
Total Cost: $10.16 (for 8)
Total Cost for four servings: $5.08
Enjoy!
