Into Enchiladas

Recently a friend passed on a stack of Cooking Light magazines. I really enjoyed flipping through them and reading a lot of the articles, and of course salivating over the recipes. I pulled a number of the recipes out, and we are looking forward to adding some new dishes into the usual dinner rotation. I am even more enthusiastic after trying this one and being so thrilled with it.

Enchilada Casserole
from Cooking Light, January/February 2012

1 pound ground sirloin (I used ground turkey to be a little more heart-healthy for Keith)
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth (I used our homemade chicken stock since I was using ground turkey in the recipe)
1 tablespoon less-sodium taco seasoning mix
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce (I used our salsa)
4 (8-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas
1/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers (just sharp cheddar for us)

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground meat and onion to pan; cook 6 minutes, stirring to crumble.

2. Preheat oven to 400˚.

3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broth, taco seasoning, and tomato sauce to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 1/2 cups tomato mixture to meat mixture; reserve 1/2 cup tomato mixture.

4. Place 1 tortilla in a 9-inch pie plate (I sprayed the pie plate with cooking spray first). Top with 1 cup meat mixture. Repeat layers, ending with tortilla. Spread reserved tomato mixture over tortilla. Top with cheese. Bake at 400˚ for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Cool slightly. Cut into 4 wedges. (We actually got two meals out of this, so I'd say it makes four adult portions and two toddler ones.)

They suggested serving it with some spicy black beans, which I altered a bit. I heated 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a skillet and put in about a cup of chopped green peppers from the freezer. Then I added 2 cups of corn that I had thawed and drained, along with 2 cups of black beans (rinsed and drained). Then I followed the Cooking Light suggestions, adding 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a sprinkling of cilantro. It went perfectly with the enchilada casserole, and Bert loved it too.

The next best thing to this recipe turning out so well is that it was touted as a 40-minute meal and it was right on the dot. Even with chopping onions and peppers, shredding cheese, and draining corn, dinner was ready in exactly forty minutes. Getting the whole meal done at the same time is always tricky for me, so it was nice to have one that went exactly like the said it would.