Lasagna Ole!

I wanted Mexican food on Monday night but I wasn't really sure exactly what I wanted...but in my boredom, I thought to myself "what if I just threw all the elements of Mexican food into a dish, then I don't have to decide!" I mean, I'm certain I'm not the first person that has decided to make Mexican lasagna but this is the first time I've made it, so I thought I'd share my recipe...as well as some tips for what I'll do the next time I make it, ha-ha!

Ingredients...ingredients...

What You'll Need

-1 package of soft shell tortillas (I made a very small lasagna, I used six small shells)

- ground beef, browned

- 1 can re-fried beans (or black beans)
- 1 serving of Mexican or Spanish rice...I had a can of rice, which I have never seen before in my life! Everything turned out just fine but I'd use a different kind in my next batch! :) You cook, you learn!
- taco seasoning packet (or cumin, chili powder, onion, salt & pepper)
- taco sauce or salsa of your choice
- shredded Mexican cheese
- tortilla chips

*You can also add in some white queso if you'd like - I have found some at Dollar General of all places that I absolutely love and so I added a bit of that in there. It's really all in what you'd like in your Mexican food!

I know, it doesn't exactly look extremely appetizing...but just go with me on this one...

Before the oven - I might have filled the dish just a wee bit too full...oh well!

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What To Do

- Brown your ground beef with spices or seasoning packet; drain the grease and set the beef aside. Preheat the oven to 350.

- In a large bowl, mix together rice, re-fried or black beans, ground beef, taco sauce/seasoning and cheddar cheese. If you have queso, go ahead and mix that in as well. As previously mentioned, whatever floats your boat! You could use chicken instead of ground beef...you could even use chicken and ground beef!

- Spread a small layer of your filling into a casserole dish. Top with crumbled tortilla chips and then lay soft tortilla shells on top of the crumbled chips. Continue layering until you've reached the top of your dish. Make a thin layer on the top with filling and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

- Cook for 25 minutes at 350; it should be well cooked through by then. Serve with tortilla chips to scoop up bits of filling that slip out, ha-ha!

Hot & piping from the oven - ready to be eaten!

Served with a side of crunchy chips! Ole!

This dish turned out really good but it looked like such a mess. A few reasons for this are, at least as far as I can tell/think:

- the canned rice had quite a bit of juice in it; bag style rice would not be so moist...

- I also think that I had a bit too much filling; I used a very small casserole dish because I'm the only person eating this; I should have used a little less filling.

- I'd like to try it with black beans as opposed to re-fried; although I think re-fried beans serve as a bit of a paste to help hold everything together!

So there are my thoughts! Proceed with your own discretion but know that even though when I started this, I wasn't sure how it would turn out, it was still really yummy! Try it out and give your lasagna night a twist!