Casseroles Attack!

This week’s PixieTips are easy recipes from two of our favorite Organic Structures, our mom, Carol Breckenridge (and resident Pixie artist) and our best friend, KatieEbner. Technically she’s Katie Ebner Goodno but her maiden name is a part of her first name to us after 35 years of friendship — how else would we have distinguished between Katie and Katie??

What is it about Organics and casseroles? I grew up eating my mom’s casseroles and KatieEbner, another Organic Structure, seems to love making them as well. They do kind of rock because you can make casseroles in the beginning of the day, pop ’em in the fridge and then forget about them until it’s time to feed the hungry masses. This is an easy Mexican dish, italicized because I’m betting this isn’t actually something from the heartland of Mexico — that is a regular at Ebner’s house.

KatieEbner got this one from AllRecipes.com, which is a neat website because it suggests what to drink with each recipe. I figure Classics and Organics would appreciate these suggestions. Smarts and Funs — often the connoisseurs in our lives — usually have their own ideas of what to serve and will find these suggestions useless. So for Ebner’s recipe below, they suggest, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, a pomegranate martini or a beer.

Layered Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients

  • 2 cups diced chicken breast meat
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (4.5 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained
  • 1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
  • 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
  • 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
  • 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and spray with vegetable cooking spray. Saute chicken with cumin and coriander until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the cilantro, black beans, and green chile peppers.
  3. Spread half of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of an 11×7 inch baking dish. Place 4 tortillas over the sauce, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, and sprinkle with half of the cheese and half of the sour cream. Spoon the remaining enchilada sauce over the cheese, and make another layer of tortillas. Layer the remaining chicken mixture over the tortillas. Cover dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the cover, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and dot with sour cream. Continue cooking, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese melts. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.