Cooking . . . It's a Family Thing!

PASTOR RYAN'S MEXICAN LASAGNA

The original recipe would make enough for a small army so I just halved everything so that I could use a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. This is so good and really not very time consuming. I put this all together Sunday morning before I went to church and then just baked it when I got home. When you begin to layer this dish you can do it anyway you want, just start with the salsa verde on bottom and then your tortillas. All the other ingredients add like you want!

Ingredients:
2 cups Unprepared Rice
3 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth/Stock
2-3 Whole Tomatoes (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes which I drained but saved the liquid)
1 Whole Onion, chopped
4 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
Taco Seasoning, to taste (I made mine using 1 1/2 T of chili powder and 3/4 T of both paprika & cumin)
1 Can Black Beans
1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef
1 Jar Salsa Verde (16 ounce)
Flour Tortillas
2 Packages Mexican Cheese Blend
1/2 can of Enchilada Sauce
1 1/2 Cans Corn, Drained (I just thawed some I had in the freezer)
Cilantro, to taste
Butter

Directions:
Begin by preparing rice using chicken stock instead of water (follow package directions.) Once prepared, salt to taste. Chop up tomates (or use canned diced tomatoes), onion and garlic as small as you prefer. Saute in pan with a tablespoon or so of butter. Since I used canned tomatoes I sauteed my onion & garlic till the onion was translucent then I added my diced, drained tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Add about half of your taco seasoning, to taste. Stir until nicely combined. Add the beans here, if you like them, or leave them out . . . no need to drain. Mix rice together with the tomato/onion/garlic mixture.

Brown the ground beef adding the rest of the taco seasoning and salt to taste and about 4-6 ounces of water to create the taco beef. Since I used diced, canned tomatoes, I just added the liquid I had reserved when I drained my tomatoes instead of using water!

Spread about half the jar of salsa verde in the bottom of your casserole dish. I used a 9 x 13 dish. Then just start layering like you would lasagna; tortillas to cover the salsa verde, rice mixture to cover tortillas, ground beef, corn & cheese. Then begin again with another layer of tortillas but next pour enchilada sauce over tortillas and spread it out evenly. Now more rice mixture, ground beef, corn & cheese and contine layering until you've used everything then add the rest of the salsa verde on top and cover with any remaining cheese. Sprinkle the top with some taco seasoning or cayenne pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes until the cheese has melted and begins to brown a bit.

Serve this up topped with a dollop of sour cream and chopped cilantro (if you like it)

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Serves 6-8