Latin flavor adds a twist to baked classics
The last few weeks my family has tried out recipes that reinvent
old favorites with a Mexican flare. The meals wouldn’t be
considered traditional or authentic in any cuisine, but they were
tasty.
The most recent meal we tried was Mexican lasagna. I love
lasagna, but I rarely cook it at home because it is so time
consuming to cook the ingredients, layer them all and then bake
them off in the oven. If I have lasagna, it’s more than likely a
really unhealthy frozen lasagna that I microwave at work for lunch
when I don’t have leftovers.
Latin flavor adds a twist to baked classics
The last few weeks my family has tried out recipes that reinvent old favorites with a Mexican flare. The meals wouldn’t be considered traditional or authentic in any cuisine, but they were tasty.
The most recent meal we tried was Mexican lasagna. I love lasagna, but I rarely cook it at home because it is so time consuming to cook the ingredients, layer them all and then bake them off in the oven. If I have lasagna, it’s more than likely a really unhealthy frozen lasagna that I microwave at work for lunch when I don’t have leftovers.
But this recently discovered recipe has a few things going for it. One, it eliminates the noodles, which I always have trouble cooking just enough so they don’t end up mushy. Instead, it uses spinach flour tortillas, which I worried might end up soggy, too. The key to the recipe is that it uses just enough liquid to keep the meat and vegetable mixture from drying out without making the tortillas a mess. The tortillas on the top layer were nice and crispy. The recipe also swaps out ground chicken breast for hamburger or sausage, lowering the fat content of it. We also opted for low-fat cheese to make it a little healthier.
The other recipe we made a few weeks ago was a Southwest shepherd’s pie that used some of the same seasonings as the lasagna. It called for ground beef, tomatoes and green chilies with mashed potatoes on top. To speed up this recipe, it called for instant mashed potatoes but we used garlic Simply Mashed potatoes, which are pretty much already cooked and just need to heated through. They taste as good as homemade mashed potatoes and don’t have the weird consistency of instant mashed potatoes.
Both meals were tasty and are likely to become staples, especially on cooler evenings such as the ones we’ve had recently.
Mexican lasagna
Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 lbs. ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 c. medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
1 c. frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market
2 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil – twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.
Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.
Southwest shepherd’s pie
Recipe courtesy of American Heart Association ‘Quick & Easy Cookbook’
8 oz. lean ground beef
½ c. chopped onion
2 c. packaged instant mashed potatoes
2 c. water
¾ c. skim milk
16 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
10 ¾ oz. can low-fat condensed cream of tomato soup
12 oz. can no-salt added whole kernel corn, drained
4 oz. can chopped green chili peppers, drained
¼ c. water
1 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
¼ c. shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender, about five minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare potatoes according to package directions, but use 2 c. of water and ¾ c. skim milk and omit butter or margarine and salt.
Place cooked meat mixture in a colander and rinse under hot water. Drain well. Wipe skillet with a paper towel. Return meat mixture to skillet over medium heat. Stir in remaining ingredients, except cheese, and heat through about seven minutes.
Transfer meat mixture to a 2-quart casserole. Drop potato mixture in mounds on meat mixture or spread it out over the meat mixture. Bake, uncovered, 25-30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with cheese.
