Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Verde Chicken Mexican Lasagna

I'm a pretty cool person (ask anybody, they'll tell you!) but I do have one minor flaw. I'm not the most creative person. I can be creative, but it takes a lot of thinking and planning and re-thinking and sometimes some tears and lots of chocolate. But eventually I produce something creative. Often I find myself reading a good book or looking at an awesome party someone planned and just shaking my head, wishing I was that creative!!

So when Carissa told me about the LDS Living Magazine's casserole contest my creative process began to flow - the old-fashioned way. I started thinking about all the recipes I love and how I could create one of my own. I planned several dishes by throwing around ideas with my sisters and late at night (much to my husband's chagrin) when I was supposed to be sleeping. Then I'd scrap those ideas and think again. Now to my credit there were no tears involved in this process (food doesn't make me cry usually - unless it's super yummy and then they are tears of joy) but I did eat lots of chocolate while brainstorming and planning.

And then - like that - it hit me. I had an idea! A couple months ago I posted a recipe called Mexican Lasagna, and at the time I mentioned that I really wanted to try to make a chicken version of the recipe. Well...I did. Carissa came over one day and we played with different amounts of the ingredients until we had a recipe that we liked. And it's awesome and super easy and kid friendly (always a plus in my house). We entered it in the LDS Living Magazine's casserole contest so we'll see how we do!
Mix together the chicken, black beans, sour cream, green salsa, corn, cilantro and spices. Now would be the time to taste your mix and add any additional spices you want! Want more salsa? Go for it! Add some hot sauce? Sure (just none for me!!)!
In your 9x13 pan layer 1/3 of your meat mixture, then cut up the tortillas to fit, making a single layer, then sprinkle on 1/3 of your cheese.
I layer my tortillas like this and then cut up a couple more to fit the middle. It's kinda fun - like a puzzle!
In the end you should have three complete layers (chicken, tortillas, and cheese). Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and everything is warmed through and bubbly and gooey and yummy.

Verde Chicken Mexican Lasagna
submitted by Celeste Pearson, Girls in Aprons

1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded
1 16 oz. container sour cream
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups green salsa
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed and drained
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped cilantro (plus additional for garnishing)

12 soft taco size flour tortillas

1 package (8 oz) shredded Mexican blend cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix chicken, sour cream, black beans, salsa, corn, cilantro and spices in a large bowl. Taste and adjust for seasonings to your preference. Cut tortillas in half with kitchen shears.

In a 9x13 dish, scoop 1/3 of the chicken mixture into bottom of pan. Spread evenly. Place one layer of cut tortillas (about 4 tortillas) on chicken mixture to cover. Top with 1/3 of the amount of shredded cheese. Repeat with chicken mixture, tortillas, shredded cheese two more times. (You should have three layers total).

Bake in oven for 20 -25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and casserole is warmed through. Serve with sour cream and additional chopped cilantro.

7 comments:

  1. How do I print a recipe without all the pictures, etc. Thanks.

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    1. Hey Jean! The best way we can tell you is to copy and paste the recipe portion into a Word document and print it from there. We aren't tech savvy so we don't have one of those handy "print recipe" things yet! Hope this helps!

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  2. I make, what we (my family) call, Burrito Pie. It is kinda like what you did with layers of tortilla wraps (Burrito size). I find that using a spring form pan (lined with foil) makes it a snap to construct the layers and cleanup is quick too.

    Also, try using Shoe Peg corn in the mix. It is much sweeter than the regular corn. I also add more spices, to give it some good heat, and the shoe peg corn really stands out when eating then.

    (Thanks to Kory [your brother] for pointing me to your Winning Recipe / blog...)

    John

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    Replies
    1. I really like shoe peg corn, I just always have frozen corn on hand, and it's cheaper! But the best thing about this recipe is how versatile it is! And I would love to add some heat, but my four kids would disown me. So my husband and I just add our own hot sauce when we dish up.

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  3. This sounds delicious! What brand of green salsa do you use?

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    1. Any green salsa you like would work. I used a medium heat salsa, and it was La Victoria brand (just what my store had that day). I also make my own green salsa, so if I have that I'll use that. Someday I'll get around to getting that recipe on the blog!

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  4. This is soooooo yummy! I don't even remember how I originally got linked to this recipe, but I'm so glad I did. I've made this a couple times and it's always a hit. My neighbor came over the other day and I offered her some for lunch. Now she's asked for the recipe. Thanks for sharing a delcious recipe!

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