Black Bean Bake

[Maria Smith]

I made this the other night. I grated some jalepeno and added a little more salsa and served it with a salad. It tasted great and was quick and easy. Except for the tortillas and the fresh jalapeno, it is a pantry dish.

[Peggy C.]

Maria where is this recipe from? It sounds interesting.

[Peggy C.]

Never mind I see it is in this months inspired vegetarian column. I hadn't noticed it before, it looks good.

[KathrynY]

Maria - thanks for your review. The Black Bean Burrito Bake is on my menu for this week so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Oh, and I don't know if others do this, but I freeze fresh jalapenos. We grow them in our garden and have waaaayyyy too many to use all at once. When I'm ready to use one I just pop it in the microwave briefly to thaw before chopping. It's a little mushy, but I don't mind since it's usually going into a soup or casserole anyway.

[Peggy C.]

Originally posted by KathrynY

Oh, and I don't know if others do this, but I freeze fresh jalapenos. We grow them in our garden and have waaaayyyy too many to use all at once. When I'm ready to use one I just pop it in the microwave briefly to thaw before chopping. It's a little mushy, but I don't mind since it's usually going into a soup or casserole anyway.

Good tip Kathryn, that would be better than having John insist on putting them in every single thing I make at the end of summer! Mmmm jalapeno jell-o! I don't know why I never thought about it before, I freeze all other kinds of peppers.

[Maria Smith]

Thanks for the tip about the jalapenos. I just put the extra one I had in the freezer. I grate it with my micro plane grater so I don't have to hassle with the seeds etc. Write back with your opinion of the dish after you make it. ~Maria

[Luckyfeather]

I freeze jalapenos, too. But, I don't microwave them. I just take them out, wash them, and chop away. I think it's easier (and less of a mess) to remove seeds, chop, etc., when they are still frozen.

[Terrytx]

I also made some changes after reading the thread. I added about 1 cup chopped onion, some garlic, 1 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. Mex. oregano. Mine made 5 nice size burritos. 1 burrito with some Mex. rice and a blop of guacamole was a filling meal. Easy and very good.

[gertdog]

We made this on Saturday. It definitely gets two thumbs up in terms of ease of preparation!

There was another thread on this dish where people said the filling was a little bland, so I used the recommendations on this thread and the other one to liven mine up a bit. I added cumin, a little salt, and chopped green onions to the filling. If I'd had cilantro on hand I would have added that too.

All in all, I liked this dish. I didn't find the filling bland with my additions (though DH disliked the corn- thought it was too chewy- perhaps it had been in the freezer too long). I didn't, however, like the salsa on top. I used a chunky, medium-spicy salsa from a jar and I thought it mostly obscured the filling flavors. Next time I might try a traditional red enchilada sauce or a mild, non-chunky salsa.

[CHRIST1NE]

And then there's my review -- I guess I'll be the odd man out -- we actually threw it out.... turns out we don't like chipotle in adobe (?) sauce