Need a steaming hot dinner idea for a cold winter evening…
Mexican restaurants are all over the place these days, but back when I was a young teen in the early 70s, there was only one Mexican restaurant in the entire county and that was Taco Kid on Penfield Road. I developed a yen for Mexican after frequenting the Kid a few times.
When our family was first starting out, every Friday night was home-made taco night. It was cheap and delicious. Eventually, I got a little adventurous and bought a Mexican cookbook. One of my favorite recipes was enchilada pie. I don’t cook a lot, but when I do, enchilada pie (aka Mexican lasagna) is one of my “go to” staples. It’s easy, relatively healthy, and delicious. Enjoy!
Enchilada Pie
- One 3.8 oz. can sliced black olives, chopped
- One 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
- One 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
- Three green onions, chopped, including green stems
- Two 10 oz. cans of MILD red enchilada sauce
- 12 corn (not flour) tortillas
- One 16 oz. can fat free refried beans
- One 8 oz. package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine olives, chiles, tomatoes, and onions in a bowl. Set aside.
Pour enchilada sauce in a bowl. Set aside.
Wrap four tortillas at a time in a wet paper towel and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Take one tortilla, dip completely in enchilada sauce, and place flat in a baking bowl. Spread on thin layer of refried beans. Spread on a spoonful of vegetable mixture. Top with cheese shreds. Repeat for each tortilla, building layer upon layer.
Bake enchilada pie for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cut in wedges, top with a dollop of sour cream. Serve with shredded lettuce on the side.
Buen provecho!
For variation, try adding chopped fresh cilantro, shreds of cooked chicken, a small amount of pickled jalapeno peppers, or cooked corn to the recipe. Don’t be afraid to douse each tortilla liberally in the sauce, which is why I specified two cans of sauce rather than one. If you skimp on the sauce, the pie will end up on the dry side. Stick with the MILD sauce. I like spicy food but the MEDIUM sauce is too spicy even for me. The refried bean paste also helps keep the pie moist. If a can of kidney beans or pinto beans was substituted in place of the refried beans, the pie would be too dry.
Sorry but I am not much of a cook.
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I hear you, Harold. I’m not a great cook by any stretch, but I do have maybe ten “go to” dishes that I picked up over the years.
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You are far better than me then.
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My wife doesn’t enjoy cooking all that much. I don’t either, but her disinterest motivated me to “pick up the slack” just a little bit.
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Great idea, my wife on her days off she love to cook and bake , suppling our boy and his family with lots of food
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I grew up in a household with five older sisters so I saw a LOT of cooking going on and picked up a few things. My wife grew up alone with her mother and her mother didn’t take the time to show her how to cook. Funny story. We got married very young and for one of our first meals my wife was going to make spaghetti. She boiled the water and put in the spaghetti and it cooked and cooked. I nervously watched the clock and told her to be careful or the spaghetti would be overcooked. She laughed and said, “You can’t overcook spaghetti!” I realized at that moment that I was “in trouble.” LOL. She’s picked up a lot since then but still doesn’t have a love for it. No worries. My waistline attests to the fact that I’m not exactly wasting away.
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Funny story !!
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Thanks, Elizabeth!
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But she is much better now.
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I live on leftovers, oatmeal, toast and peanut butter, toast and jam, grill cheese and eggs. Lol
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YUMMY! We had Taco John’s! LOL!
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It’s amazing to me given the large number of Mexican eateries today that there was only one in the entire Greater Rochester area back in the early 70s. But I’m also old enough to remember back in the mid-60s when the ONLY place to get pizza in town was Flo’s Bakery in the city.
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Bookmarked. 🙂
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Thanks, Hope. I made it a couple of days ago and thought, I’ve got to share this.
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Yummy!
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Yup! One of my favorites!
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