I love the adventure of trying out new types of foods and recipes!
. . . except for the time the guys in my youth group tried to get me to eat bugs in Africa . . . wasn’t too eager to experience that cuisine. Way to go Taylor Smith though! She stuck one of the bad boys in her mouth with only a slight grimace. It sounded very crunchy as I recall.
Finding recipes that don’t require too much extra moola is difficult however. I’m slowing learning the art of sizing up a recipe to know whether or not it’s something we can afford to experiment with.
A while back I bought a year’s subscription to Better Home and Gardens magazine through one of those daily deals for $3.99. I’m so glad I did because it has been so much fun to flip through new recipes and decorating ideas every month!
My husband and I love to cook with a lot of fresh ingredients too, so finding recipes that use a lot of “in season” produce is an extra plus! Yes, he cooks with me. Isn’t that awesome?! A lot of our date nights consist of finding a new recipe and trying it out together.
We really enjoyed this one from the May 2011 ed., and we hope you will too!
Stacked Sweet Corn, Bean, and Beef Casserole
Prep 45 min. Bake 20 min. Stand 10 min. Oven 375
2 ears of fresh corn on the cob
8 oz. lean ground beef
7 oz. uncooked chorizo sausage (I couldn’t find this so I used all ground beef)
1-15oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 large yellow sweet pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C bottled chunky salsa (we used fresh salsa from the produce section — yum!)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 8- to 9- inch flour tortillas
1 1/2 C shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
sour cream (optional)
chopped tomatoes and cilantro (optional)
1. Preheat your oven. Chop veggies accordingly. Grease a 9-inch springform pan, large oven-going platter, or 12-inch pizza pan.
2. Cook your beef and sausage until brown. Breaking into small chunks. Drain fat! Add beans to beef and heat through. Cover and keep warm.
3. In another skillet, heat olive oil over med heat and add onion, sweet pepper, and garlic. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add corn, salsa, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne. Cook 5 min, stirring occasionally.
4. Place 2 of the tortillas in prepared pan. Top with meat mixture. Reserve 1/4 C of cheese. Divide the remaining cheese in half. Sprinkle half on the meat. Add another tortilla, vegetable mixture, and remaining half of cheese. Add final tortilla. Cover loosely with foil. Bake 10 min. Uncover and sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake 10 more min. Let stand 10 min. Remove sides, if using springform pan. Top with sour cream, tomatoes, and cilantro, if desired. Slice with serrated knife. Makes 6 (generous) servings.
We enjoyed our meal with homemade guacamole and tortilla chips!
(We cheat most of the time and buy the seasoning mix and add it to 2 mashed avocados)
My one critique of the recipe is that I think you could get away with a lot less meat. It was rather heavy. But then again, sometimes that’s good . . . especially if you’re nursing and very hungry. Speaking of which: I really need to go eat something!
{Re}visionary Life 