Black bean enchilada casserole

Enjoy this flavourful Mexican dish with a casserole twist that’s not only easy to put together but adds pure spice to the dinner routine. Since this recipe calls for you to layer ingredients as a stack, versus individually hand-rolling the enchiladas, we recommend  that you bake the corn tortillas separately in the oven until crisp. With traditional enchiladas, the corn tortillas become mushy, but by toasting them in the oven, they help this casserole keep its shape. Serve with light sour cream, fresh salsa, and guacamole for a real fiesta. Olé! This dish is vegetarian friendly and can be made with store-bought baked tortilla shells from the grocery store (instead of toasting them youreself) if you are short on time.

Ingredients

• Cooking spay

• 10 6-inch corn tortillas

• 2 (14-1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes

• 1-½  cups chopped green onions, green parts only

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1 cup store-bought salsa or Salsa Rio Grande

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 (11-ounce) cans black bean soup

• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 10 ounces reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded (2-½  cups)

Directions
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.

2 Bake the tortillas in a single layer on baking sheets for about 10 minutes or until crisp. Set aside to cool.

3 In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, combine the tomatoes and their juice, green onions, onion, salsa, and cumin. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for 8 minutes.

4 Stir in the soup and black beans, and cook 5 minutes or until heated through.

5 Spread one-third of the bean mixture over the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with half of the tortillas, overlapping as necessary, and sprinkle over 1 cup of the cheese. Add another third of the bean mixture, top with the remaining tortillas, and sprinkle on 1 cup of the cheese. Finish the layers with the last third of the bean mixture and remaining ½ cup cheese.

6 Bake the casserole for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through, and serve hot.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Excerpted from The Casserole Queens Cookbook by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock Copyright © 2011 by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock . Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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