Holy mi amigos! Que pasa?
I promised you guys a recipe today didn’t I?
Typically, the weekends are spent at the man-friend’s in Nashville, but last Saturday I was on call at the hospital which means I can be no further than 30 minutes away at any given time in case I’m needed. Since I couldn’t go to him, the man-friend came to boring ol’ Clarksville me! To show my appreciation, I decided to whip up a fine meal for the two of us…
But allow me to back up a bit, because minutes before this cheesy, perfectly-spicy, veggie-filled dinner became perfectly-layered lasagna:
I had absolutely NO IDEA what I was making!
It’s true!
After promising him on Wednesday that I would cook dinner for us on Friday night, I started racking my brain trying to decide what to make. Of course it had to be something “incredible” since I’ve still only cooked a handful of meals for him. Let it also be known that I haven’t COOKED a meal in MONTHS (does salad assembly count?)
*Insert nervous excitement here*
Since the local farmers market opened, I am proud to say that I have only stepped foot in a grocery store ONCE in the last four weeks (and that was only to buy a carton of almond milk…I know, I’m seriously patting myself on the back for this, especially given my track record!) so I decided to carry on this streak and add another level of stress fun to Friday night’s dinner…
No grocery store visits! 😀
So I got out my skillet, added a bit of oil and then proceeded to throw everything but the kitchen sink (and meat) into it. THEN I spied some enchilada sauce and I KNEW what I was going to make! Well, kinda…
At first I thought enchiladas of course, but then I realized I didn’t have any tortillas…but I DID have some leftover Flatout wraps…and CHEESE!
Ding ding DING!!
Feel free to substitute any of the vegetables for what you have on hand. Use tortillas, wraps, or nothing at all. Add meat or don’t add meat. Use enchilada sauce or salsa…refried beans or black beans…just DON’T for the love of Jesus (and know that I’m pronouncing that as “Hay Seuss”) leave out the cheese…because let’s face it, it isn’t Mexican food if it’s not covered in CHEESE! 😀
Basically, what I’m trying to say is this really isn’t a recipe…or at least it wasn’t until the man-friend and I took our first bites, looked at each other and “mmm-ed” at the same time…then I had to try to think of all the measurements I used!
Please, enjoy! Or as my friend, Jesus likes to say…
“El Eat-o” 😉
Veggie-fied Mexican Lasagna
by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: saute bake entree Mexican
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium bell pepper, diced
- 1-2 ears of corn, kernels cut from cob (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 15 oz can refried beans
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1 small can enchilada sauce (or 1 cup salsa)
- 3 flour tortillas (10 inch)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 small can sliced olives for topping (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Over medium-high heat, add olive oil to a large non-stick skillet and allow to warm.
3. Add zucchini, onions, peppers, corn and spices and saute until tender (about 6-7 minutes).
4. Stir in refried beans and tomato.
5. In an 8×8 baking dish, spoon in enchilada sauce (or salsa) and then top one tortilla, 1/3 of the veggie/bean mixture, cheese, and cilantro.
6. Repeat layers twice more.
7. Top with black olives (if using) and place dish uncovered in the oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
8. Serve alongside or ON ATOP a salad of mixed greens.
What’s the last meal you prepared for someone other than yourself?
What is your favorite kind of cheese?
I love goat, and you guys know I’m enamored with blue, but lately, it’s been all about the AGED gouda! YUM!
I’m pretty darn excited for this recipe! I was anticipating it:)
And I can totally replace cheese for daiya which makes me happy when I can have dairy free versions.
I really love goat cheese, but dang those allergies. That was a sad day for myself 😉
Ohhh my gosh!!!! Girl you KNOW I love my Mexican dishes 😉 this sounds delicious!!! The boy and I don’t really like olives, so I’d skip out on those, but everything else looks amazing!
Mexican Jesus is my favorite Jesus. For real. Si.
I want to come to Nashville!!! (But I’d come to Clarksville for this tastiness.) Tell man-friend I said Hi!
This looks amazing! I normally just throw things in to get rid of them when I make Mexican Lasagna, but it never looks this beautiful! Definitely man friend approved…my guys would love this!
Aww, thanks lady! I was actually surprised by how great it looked too…I wasn’t even planning on posting it until I had it all set up to go in the oven and was like, “Ohhh, perrrrrrrrrdy!” Hahaha!
that looks so good and so easy! I barely cook… one because I can’t be bothered and two because I can’t be bothered. 😉 But I might just have to try this. Thank you! 🙂
Hahaha! Well, if it helps to think of it this way…it’s more of a layering of art (in the form of vegetables) than actually cooking! 😉
Now that is creativity! It looks so freakin’ good…I love it when throw-together recipes end up being the best
And living with my kitchen-illiterate boy means that most nights I’m cooking for both of us 😉 So the last meal was chicken, rice and asparagus!
it’s too hot to actually cook, so salad assembly definitely counts. But I’d make this, hands down!!
OMG so glad it was this one you decided to share first!! Hats off lady it looks devine 😀
Yum! I love Mexican food. I love lasagne. This looks awesome.
Yummm this looks so good girl! And I love that it uses tortillas instead of lasagna noodles. For some reason cooking with lasagna noodles scares me. I know, I’m weird.
The last meal I cooked for someone else was when I made sesame chicken, stir fried vegetables, and basmati rice for my mom and I on Tuesday. I used How Sweet Eats’ recipe for the sesame chicken and it turned out so good!
I seriously can’t choose a favourite cheese. Aged cheddar, feta, goat, and brie are all favourites of mine. 😀
Haha! You’re not weird…lasagna can be a little intimidating because it takes so much time. I know it took me forever to make my first one, but really, it’s almost impossible to mess up…just make sure you let your noodles cool off before you go handling them…those suckers get HOT! Lol
That chicken dish sounds awesome! Jessica has never let me down on any of the recipes I’ve tried!
Mmmm, when it comes to cheese, aged anything always gets first pick! 😀
Yes! Get in my belly! 🙂 This looks so yummy, partially on account of my love for black olives!
Mmmm bookmarking this.
Plenty of veggies, mexican spices (I add cumin and cayenne to just about everything), beans, olives (!) and cheese? When are you going to come over and cook for me?
Okay, so as you might imagine I can’t compete in the cheese game but I used to like brie a lot and now I’d say Daiya’s cheddar or their pepperjack – which I never even had the non-vegan version of.
Hope you don’t have to work this weekend but get to enjoy more time with the man-friend!
Awww, I’d love to cook for you, MP!! Actually, I’ve seen your wonderful veggie creations…I think this should be a JOINT effort! And bring on the Daiya…I’ve tried the cheddar and mozzarella and they were ok, but I hear that pepperjack is amazing!
This looks delicious and so easy to make! Thanks for sharing!
xx Kait
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You’ve only been to the grocery store once in four weeks. Damn girl; I am proud of you. That’s super impressive, and it looks like your farmers market finds are helping bring back your kitchen mojo. This looks spectacular. I love when a recipe just comes together practically on its own and turns out to be fantastic.
PS. Tell the Manfriend to move over because I’m coming to dinner next time.
Haha, I KNEW you’d be proud of me! 😀 And yeah, with all the fresh produce, I kinda felt like I was channeling my inner Meghan…or at least throwing down the veggie gauntlet! I win! 😉
You may borrow my crown!
Mexican food makes my heart swoooon….
Using FlatOut wraps was such a brilliant idea! I swear, those may be the most versatile thing I have in my kitchen. I use them for everything!
I LOVE Mexican-style foods! I think I just identified my next cooking experiment 🙂