Taco Casserole

 

This taco casserole is based on one from marthastewart.com.  Feel free to adjust spices to your taste if you want it less or more spicy.  You can also switch up the beans--black beans, kidney beans, etc.  The recipe calls for ground beef but we try to limit red meat so I substituted ground turkey and it was just as good.  Enjoy whatever toppings you like--we put sour cream on ours but you could add a dollop of guacamole, chopped cilantro, olives, etc.  As usual, I didn't add any salt and I felt it was fine without it but season it however you like.

1 pound ground beef or turkey

Salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 green bell pepper, diced  

1 white onion, diced  

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 ½ teaspoons chili powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups yellow corn tortilla chips, slightly crushed

1 ¼ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese  

1 ¼ cup  shredded sharp cheddar cheese  

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a cast iron skillet (or oven safe skillet) heat 1 tablespoon oil.  Add ground beef and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook until meat is browned.  Transfer to a colander to drain.

 

Discard excess oil, wipe out skillet with paper towel and add 1 tablespoon oil.  Add pepper and onion and cook until tender and browning. 

Add tomato paste and cook for one minute.

Return meat to pan.  Add spices, tomatoes, pinto beans and 2 tablespoons water.  Remove from heat.

 

Combine crushed tortilla chips and one cup of each cheese.  Top casserole with chip mixture followed by remaining cheese.

 

 

Bake until cheese is melted and golden in spots, approximately 3 minutes.

 

Serve with toppings of your choice.

Treat yourself to some armchair travel to England with my 

Open Book Series!

 Coming August 1

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

When murder taints writer-in-residence Penelope Parish’s charming British bookshop, she must follow the clues to catch a killer before tempers boil over.
 
Penelope Parish thought she’d turned the page on her amateur sleuthing days but when the owner of Upper Chumley-on-Stokes’ proposed first high-end gourmet shop is poisoned, the American novelist starts to wonder if she and her quaint British town are in for another rewrite. It turns out that not everyone was a fan of Simeon Foster’s farm-sourced charcuterie and imported pastries—many of the locals were outraged by the potential new competition.
 
With a full menu of suspects on her hands, this just might be Penelope’s toughest case yet. Luckily, her friends at the Open Book are there to help with every twist of the poisoned pen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taco Casserole #Recipe @PegCochran

This recipe is from The Kitchen and my husband declared it a keeper.  He loves all things Mexican and especially tacos.  I had mine over lettuce.  He put his in a taco shell.  Just add the toppings of your choice.  I substituted ground turkey for the beef and it tasted great. I also had black beans instead of pinto beans and they were equally good.  I also added some frozen corn because I like the way the sweetness of the corn brightens the dish.  

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
15 ounces tomato salsa
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, divided

 

Heat the oven to 350℉. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.

 

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil until shimmering. 

 

Add the beef or turkey and cook until browned and cooked through.   Transfer the meat to a plate and drain any fat from the skillet.

 

Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and heat until shimmering. Add the onion, pepper, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. 

 

 

 

Return the beef to the pan and stir in the beans, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.

 

 

 

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in salsa and 3/4 cup of cheese. 

 

 

 

Transfer to the baking dish and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese.

 

 

 

Bake until the cheese is melted and casserole is heated through, about 20 minutes.  

 

Serve over lettuce, in a taco and with toppings of your choice: sour cream, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, avocado.

 

 

OUT NOW!

Book #3 in the Open Book Series

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

A murder in her quaint British bookshop drops American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish into her deadliest caper yet.

Penelope Parish is ready to close the book on her amateur sleuthing—from now on, The Open Book’s writer-in-residence will be sticking to villains of the fictional variety while she puts the final touches on her new novel. But when an author is murdered inside the bookshop, all of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke goes on high alert.
 
Now it’s up to Pen and the quirky citizens of Chumley to stop a killer and protect the charming British town she’s begun to call home.

 

 

 Book #1

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Barnes & Noble

    Book #2

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Taco Casserole with Black Beans---Food to Feed Boys

I thought I’d share with y’all today a nice standby for a crowd of hungry boys—or for anybody, for that matter.

The only problem is that I lost my mind between the skillet portion of this recipe and the moment when it came out of the oven. I got a picture while it was in process (felt so proud of myself, too—because I was multi-tasking and doing about five things at once)….then forgot when my timer went off and it was time to race to the Boy Scout covered dish supper on Monday night.

And this, sadly, was all that was left after the potluck supper—nothing. :)

I have been absolutely amazed what boys eat. My son ate about fifty pieces of Halloween candy in one night and wasn’t sick and didn’t seem an ounce heavier than before. Hmm. Can this be marketed?

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m trying to use more black beans in my cooking. They’re just supposed to be so good for us!

Easy Taco Casserole with Black Beans

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 package taco seasoning mix
10 6-inch tortillas, cut into fourths
1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat and drain. Return to skillet and add taco mix, beans, tomatoes, and corn. Simmer for five minutes. Coat a large baking dish with spray. Layer the bottom of the container with half of the cut tortillas. Spoon half the beef mixture on the top of the tortillas, then cover with the remaining tortillas. Top with the beef mixture. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and return dish to the oven for five minutes or until cheese melts.

Hope you’ll check out Lulu’s latest adventure in Hickory Smoked Homicide! Now on the shelves!

Riley/Elizabeth
Finger Lickin’ Dead (Riley Adams)
Hickory Smoked Homicide (preorder book 3!)
Progressive Dinner Deadly

Tasty Taco Bake

If you’re a mom, you know that sometimes making a meal a hit is all in the presentation.

Presentation, if you’re cooking for adults, means making a meal pretty on a plate.

Good presentation, for a kid, means presenting a recipe in a way that either camouflages what it is, or presents it in a way that’s acceptable to the child in question.

My daughter swears she doesn’t like tacos. (I know. It’s odd. I don’t understand it—she eats spinach and broccoli happily. No tacos?) But she does like the taco bake casserole.

“Is there sour cream in it?” she asks suspiciously.

“Why no! No, there isn’t.”

“What’s that white stuff?”

“Melted cheese, sweetie. It’s melted cheese. White cheddar. Yes.”

I know, of course, that it’s horrible to intentionally mislead your child. Especially a sweet-faced nine year old. But I have forgiven my mother for perpetrating the same indiscretion in the 1970s…involving, in my case, mushrooms. I’m a proud fan of mushrooms now and I owe it all to Mama.

I like the black beans and corn in this recipe. There’s a good deal of shredded cheese on the top, but you could use less and use a low-fat sour cream and feel pretty good about yourself, I think. I used ready-made taco seasoning, but you could make your own if you have a little more time.

Tasty Taco Bake

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1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 can black beans , drained
1 can corn
small bag of tortilla chips
2 T taco seasoning
2 medium sized flour tortillas
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
2 cups shredded cheese (I like a Monterrey Jack blend)

Brown beef and onions, cooking with the garlic. Drain and add black beans, corn, salsa, and taco seasoning to the meat. Cook over medium heat until heated through.

Press flour tortilla shells into the bottom of a greased, large Pyrex dish. Spoon the meat and salsa mixture over the tortillas. Top with sour cream, then a layer of cheese. Crumble tortilla chips over the top of the casserole and cook at 350 for 20 minutes, covered. Remove foil and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.

*******

Sometimes when I cook it, the consistency is a little soupy when I take it from the oven, but it firms more as it cools a little. It’s a hit at our house, even with taco-haters. :)

Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (July 6 2010) Riley Adams
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig