Easy Enchiladas

FOUND IT: Trenni Kusnierek of MLB Network was kind enough to share it with me.

This is a great, flexible enchilada recipe with a quick, easy list of ingredients. It calls for chicken, but I replaced it with half ground venison/half black beans, and that seemed to work out well.

I also used hot picante sauce (and a little too much of it), and the result was a meal that I thought was great but made smoke come out of my wife's ears. If you're not a fan of spicy food, stick to mild/medium.

Ingredients:

• 1 10 3/4 oz of cream of chicken soup, preferably the fat-free kind
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1 cup picante sauce
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup Monterrey jack cheese (I used a mexican blend)
• Additional cheese for on top, if desired
  
• 6-8 flour tortillas, warmed
• 2 cups of shredded chicken (or 1 cup of ground beef/venison and 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed)

Brown meat, if you haven't already.

In a bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder. Take one cup of this mixture, and combine it in another bowl with the cheese, meat and beans (if using).

Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish (they'll fit tightly, but it should work). Spoon some filling into a tortilla, roll it up and place it seam-side-down in the dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Once all the tortillas are in the dish, pour the remaining soup mixture over the top.

Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes at 350. If you're adding cheese, remove the foil at this point, put the cheese on top and bake for another 5-7 minutes. Give them a few minutes to cool before serving.

Layered Enchilada Bake

FOUND IT: At Fab Food Friday, another recipe blog you should be reading. Jody's recipes are great and easy to make - I've never made a Fab Food Friday recipe that I didn't want to make again.

I started off with this recipe as a standby for when company is visiting, but now I make it all the time.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef (you can use turkey or chicken to reduce fat)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups salsa
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained, rinsed
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix, either from a pouch or a recipe like this one.
6 flour tortillas (8 inch)
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg. shredded cheese, Mexican or Co-Jack

Brown meat with onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add salsa, beans and seasoning mix; mix well.

Arrange 3 of the tortillas in single layer on bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with layers of half each of the meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat all layers. Cover with foil.

Bake covered for 30 min at 400. Remove foil. Bake an additional 10 min. or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.

Black bean meatloaf with mac and cheese filling

FOUND IT: This one is my creation.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (I use venison, beef will work)
1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

For the mac and cheese:
1/2 lb sharp cheddar, shredded
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup beer
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small chunks
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
Half a box of pasta or so. Probably a little less.

To make the mac and cheese part, warm the milk and beer over low-medium heat, and add all the other ingredients except the cheese and pasta. Once the butter melts, stir it until it starts to thicken, then add cheese. Stir until the sauce is thick and all the cheese has melted, then set it aside. Boil pasta until it's done, strain, and combine.

Combine all the meatloaf ingredients in another bowl. Grease a loaf pan, divide your meat mixture in half and put half into the bottom of the loaf pan. Cover that with the mac and cheese, then shape the remaining meatloaf to cover the mac and cheese. Bake at 350 for half an hour. Let it chill for a few minutes before serving it.