Dinner Made Easy

I am a busy Mom. And, believe me, I know I’m not the only one out there! So, when I find a winner recipe, I have to share…

When I sat down to write this I was trying to figure out how I came up with the recipe in the first place.  Most likely it was a Saturday afternoon, the college football game was on.   And – are you sitting down for this? – I wanted to watch it. But dinner also needed to show up on the table, soon.

Here is what happened when I raided the pantry. I must have thought about trying my hand at Enchiladas at some point because I had a can of the sauce and I had our staple of Black Beans. What resulted was something I like to call Chicken Enchilada Pie.

Ingredients:

• 1lb. Chicken (Alternatives: Ground Beef or Turkey)
• 1/4 Onion (diced)
• 1 small can Green Chilis (diced)
• 1 can Enchilada sauce (we prefer Verde or Green sauce, but Red works, too)
• 1 small can Black Beans (drained & rinsed)
• 1Tbsp Chili Powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Shredded Cheese (8 oz bag)  Try Colby Jack Blend, Taco Blend or Mexican Blend
• Corn Tortillas (at least 9 for a 10″ pie)
• 9 or 10″ pie pan or cake pan (the cake pans work a little better since you’re going to be layering)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Saute Onions in 1tsp of Canola Oil until clear (don’t caramelize them)

Dice Chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the skillet

Add Chili Powder, Salt &  Pepper, saute until Chicken is cooked

Add Green Chiles and Black Beans and Enchilada Sauce, saute until ingredients are heated through.

Taste to see if you like the amount of Chili Powder – sometimes I add up to a teaspoon more

Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Take 5 Corn Tortillas and place them around the pan, overlapping. I use the 5th to  fill in the center of the circle on the bottom of the pan. (If you need to, you can use more tortillas – this isn’t science… just dinner)

Spoon about half of the Chicken & Bean mixture onto the first layer of tortillas. Cover with half of the cheese.

Take the next 4 Tortillas and lay them on top of the cheese and top with the remaining Chicken & Bean mixture. Top with the rest of the cheese. I usually fold the little bit of tortilla’s from the first layer onto the top of the pie to keep them from getting too brown.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

This freezes beautifully. Just wrap it with a couple of layers of plastic wrap. Then, thaw it before heating it thoroughly.

It goes great with Sour Cream, Sliced Avocado or a little Guacamole.

I hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think! Comment below!