Mexican Casserole

I really enjoy Mexican food.  I could eat it several times a week and not get sick of it.    If you're a Mexican fan as well, you must give this a try!   It's very good.

This recipe is adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

Mexican Casserole

(serves 6)

Ingredients

1 tbsp water

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups yellow tortilla chips, broken into pieces

*1 1/2 cups black beans

*1 1/2 cups fat-free refried beans

1 large tomato, diced

1 tsp chili powder, divided

1/2 tsp cumin, divided

1/2 cup salsa

1 cup homemade enchilada sauce (or 1 cup of canned)

*If using canned beans, always look for the brands without preservatives.  I use Trader Joe's brand where the ingredients are just beans, water & salt, nothing else. Black beans that come in a bag have less salt than those in cans as well.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.

If using homemade enchilada sauce, prepare that now and set aside.  

In a large pan, saute pepper, onion & garlic in water for about 5 minutes, or until softened.  Set aside.

Line bottom of baking dish with a layer of tortilla chips.  Spread half the refried beans over the chips (*see notes below).  Cover the refried beans with half of the pepper/onion/garlic mixture and half of the tomato.  Add half of the chili powder & cumin.  Finally, add half of the black beans.  

Add another layer of tortilla chips and repeat the layers of the other ingredients.   Spread salsa on top.  Cover with final layer of tortilla chips and pour the enchilada sauce on top.

Cover and bake for about 30 minutes.   Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.  

*Since my refried beans were thick, I used my hands to work them over the chips.  There really was no way to "spread" them using a utensil without disrupting the placement of the chips.