Recipe: Fiesta Casserole

Last week, I had a request for tacos from Addy. I really didn’t feel like making them because I had only thawed one pound of beef, and there was no way that would feed us all and give Arthur leftovers for lunch.

So, I came up with this gem. 🙂 I named it Fiesta Casserole because that’s as creative as I could be.

It is a little time-consuming because it’s all from scratch; however, it is organic and healthy and delicious and filling! We had plenty for dinner and leftovers for ALL the next day.

Fiesta Casserole

1/4 cup onion, diced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Homemade Taco Seasoning

1 pound ground beef

9 tortillas

2 cups cheese (I used cheddar)

THIS Mexican Rice recipe

8 ounces canned, diced tomatoes

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions for about 4 minutes, until tender. Add in garlic powder and stir to combine.

2. Add ground beef to onions and break up to brown. Drain fat. Add a small amount of water and desired amount of taco seasoning (I think I used about 1.5 TBSP of it). Stir to combine, adding more water if needed to get seasoning mixed in. Cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in beans and tomatoes.

3. Make Mexican Rice as instructed. Remove from heat.

4. Line bottom of 13 x 9 baking dish with 3 tortillas, torn to fit dish. Spoon 1/2 of meat mixture onto tortillas. Top with 1/2 of rice mixture and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of cheese lightly over.

5. Repeat step 4, tearing tortillas to cover cheese, then top with remaining meat mixture and rice mixture. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of cheese over.

6. Tear remaining 3 tortillas to cover and then sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of cheese (add more if doesn’t cover tortillas well….they will get dry and crispy/burned if there isn’t enough cheese).

7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

We had this with salads and corn. I worried that there wasn’t enough “sauce” in this recipe and it would be dry, but the tomatoes’ juices and the cheese made the perfect amount of moisture.

It’s not a true Mexican dish but rather a mild taco casserole that is sure to please. 🙂

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