Review: Jewel's Mexican Lasagna

[Karen M]

This is really good. I am sitting here at the computer licking the plate.... It is that good. DH also said it's awesome and he wants some in his lunch tomorrow. Thankfully, there is enough for the both of us, so we won't fight over the leftovers.

Jewel, Thanks for posting! This will be repeated many times.

[Jewel]

Thank you Karen! That is one of my favorite casserole dishes! You can get creative with it too, by adding black olives, subbing chicken for the ground beef, or even adding a can of whole kernel corn to the meat/bean mixture, which I almost did last week! I say almost because just when I decided to do it I realized I was out. DH has even suggested adding Mexican Rice to the meat/bean mixture, but I think I'm going to save the rice as a side dish...

[Cathy]

I can't find the recipe! This sounds great. Would you let me know where you posted and when? Thanks


NEVER MIND, I FOUND IT!!! I can't wait to try it ;-]

[chefbec]

I did a search and it didn't come up (I looked for Jewel's Mexican Lasagna). Where can I find this recipe?

No need (thanks); I also just found it. I looked under Mexican lasagna and found the thread. Looks delicious!

[Karen M]

here it is:http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/show...exican+lasagna

[Beth H]

I think CL definitely needs to do an article on recipes posted on the BB -- they could even lighten them if necessary. There certainly are a lot of great ones to try!

[JulieAnn]

Just wanted to add our opinion. I made this tonight and really enjoyed it. I subbed flour tortillas since it's what I had and they were really good. I just get in the mood once in a while for these kind of dishes, but I really enjoyed this. I only used one can of beans and that was enough for us. I only used 1/2# hamburger. Thanks, Jewel for all your BB contributions!

[sapphirestar]

When I tried to follow the link to the recipe, it was unavailable. Did anyone else have any luck?

[Belgusa]

MEXICAN LASAGNA

2 lbs ground beef (or 3-4 cups cubed chicken)
1 large onion, chopped
1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
1-2 chipolte peppers, seeded and minced
1 TBS Adobo sauce from can
1 TBS minced garlic
1 (2 oz) can sliced black olives (optional)
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (14 oz) cans fat free refried beans
1 (12 oz) bottle mild red taco sauce
8-12 corn tortillas
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute ground beef in large skillet over medium heat until brown. (If using chicken, spray pan with cooking spray before sauteeing). Add onion, garlic and continue sauteeing for another 4-5 minutes. Drain fat from pan, and add olives, green chiles, chipotles, adobo sauce, tomatoes, refried beans and taco sauce. Mix thoroughly, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of meat/bean mixture in bottom of 13" x 9" pan. Cover with a layer of corn tortillas, cutting to fit when necessary. Spread a thin layer of the meat/bean mixture on the tortillas, the follow with a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat layers until all tortillas are used, ending with a layer of meat/bean mixture and cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly. Serve with sour cream, hot sauce, shredded lettuce and tomatoes.
********

[Lrimerman]

Does anyone have the nutritional info on this recipe, I put in mastercook, but I am just learning how to use program and am not sure mine is correct.

TIA

Lisa

[valchemist]

Lisa,

Be sure that Mastercook is recognizing all your ingredients and that you have the correct measurements for everything. This is how mine looked when I got it all "cleaned up." Note that I used lean ground beef for the meat. I am not sure this is correct, but I think it is close. Is this close to what you got? Anyone else?

Val


* Exported from MasterCook *

Mexican Lasagna

Recipe By : Jewel
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Main Dish

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 lbs lean ground beef -- (or 3-4 cups cubed chicken)
1 large onion -- chopped
4 1/2 ozs diced green chiles
1 chipotle chile canned in adobo -- seeded and minced
(1 to 2)
1 tbsp Adobo sauce from can
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 ozs black olives -- sliced
10 ozs diced tomatoes -- undrained
28 ozs fat free refried beans -- (two 14 oz cans)
12 ozs mild red taco sauce
8 corn tortillas -- (8 to 12)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese -- shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute ground beef in large skillet over medium heat until brown. (If using chicken, spray pan with cooking spray before sauteeing). Add onion, garlic and continue sauteeing for another 4-5 minutes. Drain fat from pan, and add olives, green chiles, chipotles, adobo sauce, tomatoes, refried beans and taco sauce. Mix thoroughly, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of meat/bean mixture in bottom of 13" x 9" pan. Cover with a layer of corn tortillas, cutting to fit when necessary. Spread a thin layer of the meat/bean mixture on the tortillas, the follow with a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat layers until all tortillas are used, ending with a layer of meat/bean mixture and cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly. Serve with sour cream, hot sauce, shredded lettuce and tomatoes.
********

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 602 Calories; 36g Fat (53.1% calories from fat); 34g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 115mg Cholesterol; 1115mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 5 Fat.

[Jewel]

Gee Val, thanks for finally letting me know exactly how much fat is in that recipe that I've been enjoying for a few years now!

I sub where I can. I use lowfat sharp cheddar and nonfat sour cream, nonfat refried beans, and I always rinse my ground beef in hot water through a colander after I cook it. It also makes a BIG pan and is so filling that you generally cannot eat more than one 4" x 4" slab!

[Karen M]

I am going to chose to ignore the nutritional info and continue to live in bliss.

[1MegMeg]

^^^ Haahaa, I agree with that.

I just bought the ingredients for this and plan on making it tomorrow night.

[lisas3575]

Thanks Jewel! I made this for dinner last night, subbing Yves veggie ground round for the hamburger (which also significantly reduced the fat since it's fat free). Since it's just DH and I, I made it in two 8x8 pans and froze one for later.

On a funny note, I had the same problem with this as I do with regular lasagna-- I use too much filling! I ended up only using 6 of the tortillas because I ran out of "stuff". It would have been better with more tortillas, so next time I'll go lighter on the filling layers.

[ErinM]

Lisa...how much of the veggie "meat" did you use? I have a bag of the morningstar farms variety in my fridge, but am uncertain as to how much that would be to equal 1lb/2lbs of real meat.

Thanks!

P.S. - OT - wasn't Brad's "parade" on the Luann comic strip cute? I realize these are fictional characters, but I thought that was a really nice thing for his friends/family to do, especially since it was obvious he felt so rotten. I wish we saw things like this happen in real life sometimes, ya know?

[1MegMeg]

YUM YUM

I made this Saturday night and it was delicious. DBF and I are very much looking forward to the leftovers tonight. Lisa, I had the same problem you did with the filling. I thought I was spreading a thin layer, but I guess it wasn't that thin because I only ended up using 6 tortillas before I was out of filling. Next time I'll have to be more careful.

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by ErinM
Lisa...how much of the veggie "meat" did you use? I have a bag of the morningstar farms variety in my fridge, but am uncertain as to how much that would be to equal 1lb/2lbs of real meat.

Thanks!

P.S. - OT - wasn't Brad's "parade" on the Luann comic strip cute? I realize these are fictional characters, but I thought that was a really nice thing for his friends/family to do, especially since it was obvious he felt so rotten. I wish we saw things like this happen in real life sometimes, ya know?

Hi Erin!
Yes, the parade was so cute! I loved the "floats."

I used two packages of the veggie ground round. Each package is 12 oz., so I figured I'd be fairly close to the post-cooked beef weight. I guess it depends on your taste-- I'd probably use just one package next time as I don't really like a heavy "meat" texture and this was very "meaty".

[TPorter2]

I made this for dh and me this weekend, and it was great. I halved the recipe since there are only the 2 of us and used a smaller pan and there were still leftovers. Yummy and easy, thanks so much!

[ErinM]

Originally posted by lisas3575


Hi Erin!
Yes, the parade was so cute! I loved the "floats."

I used two packages of the veggie ground round. Each package is 12 oz., so I figured I'd be fairly close to the post-cooked beef weight. I guess it depends on your taste-- I'd probably use just one package next time as I don't really like a heavy "meat" texture and this was very "meaty".

I agree, the floats added just the right touch!

Thanks for the crumbles info...I think I would halve the recipe, as I am the only person who would eat it.

[aggie94]

Resurrecting this old thread, because I finally got around to making this last night. It was delicious! DH especially loved it. I did make a few changes, though. I had some already cooked, shredded chicken, so I used that instead of ground beef. And I subbed a can of black beans for one of the cans of refried beans, and used fat-free refried beans for the other can. I also left out the olives and added a can of Mexicorn. I served this with cornbread and a simple salad of Romaine lettuce and tomatoes.

Thanks for another great recipe, Jewel!

[chefbec]

I like the idea of using chicken. I still haven't tried this yet, but I will. I'll bet the black beans also gave it a slightly different (but nice) texture. If it weren't already 6:00, I'd make this for dinner tonight!

[aggie94]

Originally posted by chefbec
If it weren't already 6:00, I'd make this for dinner tonight!

If you have all the stuff on hand (including chicken that's already cooked), this casserole actually comes together very fast!

[chefbec]

I do have cooked chicken, and we were going to have leftovers tonight. Maybe I'll try it!

[lisas3575]

Eva, this is a great recipe to adapt to your new weekly vegetarian meal. I make it with Yves Ground Round (or Morningstar crumbles) and it's excellent. Che won't ever miss the meat.

[sunberst]

yummy yum.

this is a really good recipe that is so forgiving.

i made the ground beef version & it was excellent. very flavorful & reheats beautifully. my ingredients must have been off because my oz. on my canned & jarred items did not match up with jewel's. for example- i used 16 oz. taco sauce not 12 oz., 3.8 oz. black olives not 2 oz., 14.5 oz. canned tomatoes not 10oz., etc. regardless it all worked fine.

i used 12 tortillas & had only two layers (6 tortillas between each layer).

the refried beans are essential because it holds everything together nicely. i think you could substitute a can of black beans for one of the 2 cans, but make sure you have atleast 1 can refried for this dish.

you can make the chicken version, a ground turkey version, or even a vegetarian option by using veggie crumbles & soy cheese.

anyway you make it, i am sure it will be a good dish.