Mexican Lasagna

Remember how I said I don't like anything from a can?  Well... that was a lie.  Actually two of my most favorite foods are still so so good out of the can.  1.  Beans.  2.  Green chili's.   Maybe it's because I grew up in New Mexico, but even though I have the most gringo tongue, I could eat beans, cheese, and green chili every day and it would never get old.  Both of these things are better fresh (you know that great roasting chili smell in the summer?  mmmm), but it's hard to beat the ease of opening a can of beans, a can of chili's and have dinner ready already.  SO... where was I?  Ah yes, Mexican lasagna.

It's actually a bean enchilada recipe that one of the gym mom's used to bring to potlucks (thanks Missy!).  She rolled up the enchilada's, but I am too lazy and layer them... and we have been affectionately calling them Mexican Lasagna ever since.

So I started with pureed carrots.  The puree had maybe 8 or 9 large carrots and 1 cup of water.  It was pretty thick.  SIDE NOTE:  after a bite of puree, the research team said that carrots were so good when they weren't as hard to eat.  Hee hee, and I thought I was lazy!!   

Alright, so here is the recipe:
 
Ingredients...
1 can pinto or black beans
1 can kidney beans
2 cans green chili's  (you know those small cans?)
1 cup carrot puree
1 can enchilada sauce
Some tortillas (I'm honestly not sure how many... less than one small bag)
Some cheese (man, I'm horrible at this!!  I really just shredded the cheese as I put it in... sigh.  Sorry.)

Here we go.  Rinse, drain, and mash the beans (hello, potato masher!) in a bowl.  Add green chili's and carrot puree. 

Here is a picture so far:

This is not a trick of the light.  The carrots really did turn it this orange.  But even at this point, I couldn't taste them at all!  

Missy also added some cheese and enchilada sauce to the bean mixture, but since I am layering with them, I leave them out.  If I was going to roll them up, then I would add them to the mixture.  Yeah?

Alright, so then pour some enchilada sauce into the bottom of the pan.  I like the green sauce, medium hotness, but I'm sure red would be good also.  I use the small square pan (8x8 or 9x9 I guess.  I never measured), and it turns out pretty thick, like lasagna!

And the layering begins:
Enchilada sauce on the bottom then...
tortillas  (I like the corn tortillas, but it's also good with flour tortillas)
bean mixture
cheese
repeat

With the corn tortillas I tear them to make them fit:

I think it is usually 3 layers or so.  On the last layer of tortillas pour the remaining enchilada sauce and top with cheese.  Bake at 350 or 400, depending on how much of a hurry you are in, until bubbly!

This is one of my most favorite dishes, and we could not taste the carrot at all.  Mmmm, I could eat beans and cheese all day...

The Verdict:

The research team said he liked it a lot, and he couldn't taste the carrots even though he was trying really hard to!  He felt like this recipe was "good."  As in "done." 



Soooooo, what I think I will do now, is start a recipe list on the side of my blog --------------->  that has hidden vegetable recipes that are "done."  As in, "I am done experimenting with this recipe."  Although, I don't think I AM done experimenting with this recipe... I was thinking I'd also hide some pureed peas or spinach or something else green in the green enchilada sauce.   But I guess the experimenting can continue even with great recipes posted on the side of the blog!  So maybe the recipe list will be more like, "these recipes are really good, and see if you can find the hidden vegetable."