Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

My friend Lila made this for a ward brunch.  By the end of the activity, a 15 year boy was scraping the bottom of the pan to get the crumbs he liked it so much. It's really yummy and I don't want to lose the recipe!

This recipe can be made with Whole wheat flour tortillas rolled up Enchilada style. I made this dish into two 9x13 baking pans save one in the freezer for another day.

Ingredients:

1.     2 pkgs of yellow corn tortilla or whole wheat flour tortilla *

2.     2 cans of black beans*

3.     1 can of unsalted corn

4.     1 medium onion

5.     3 green bell peppers(or broccoli)

6.     2 pkgs of bottom mushroom

7.     1 can of tomato pasta sauce

8.     1-2 cups of chopped cilantro

9.     Pinch of salt, garlic powder, and black peper (optional)

Directions:

1.     Blend the black bean with its juice in a blender until creamy.

2.     In a pan, sautee the diced onion with a bit of oil for few minutes or so and spoon it out and set aside.*

3.      In the same pan, sautee the diced bell pepper, mushroom, and corn with its juice, add a bit of salt, black peper, and garlic powder(optional) then add about ½ cup of water, cook until tender.

4.     Spoon a thin layer of pasta sauce on two 9x13 baking pans, then lay  ¼ of tortillas evenly on each pan. Then another thin layer of sauce on the tortilla.  After that, add ½ of sauteed mixture including onion(save the juice for later) then black bean evenly on the layer.  Finally lay rest ¼ of tortillas on each pan, pour sauteed veggie juice on each pans, then add ½ of remaining pasta sauce on the top. Make sure all the tortilla is soaked in the sauce and juice.

5.     Bake 375 uncovered for about 40 minutes.  The top should feel a bit crispy but soft underneath of layer.  Add cilantro before serving.

 

·        If you'd like to use homemade mushed black bean just blend the cooked bean with its own cooked juice and seanson with a bit of salt, garlic and onion powder.  The mushed bean should be creamy.  I made a lot of this and save it in the freezer for eating with brown rice or tortilla.

·        You can omit direction 2 and sautee the onion together with other veggies to save time. But I found it gives the dish more flavor if you cook it seperately.