As I mentioned before I absolutely love enchiladas, but they can turn into a lot of work. Between rolling each one and making the filling and trying to get your corn tortillas not to rip, it can be a frustrating dish to make. This layered casserole solves all those problems and is amazing delicious to boot.
With the exception of the fresh ingredients for the toppings, this whole recipe was made with items from the pantry - making it a GREAT staple to keep on your list - and it doesn't taste like "pantry food". I loved using the canned chicken in the recipe because it cut down on my cooking time significantly, plus the flavors from the homemade sauce and the fresh vegetables really brightened the dish up.
You can even make this vegetarian and use more means and leave the chicken out all together.
I am super happy with how this turned out, I hope you enjoy making it too.
Ingredients
3 cups red enchilada sauce ( Please use the Homemade Red Enchilada sauce we made - it makes all the difference)
16 corn tortillas, halved
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
6 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced
4 cups (about 1.5 pounds) shredded cooked chicken ( I used canned chicken)
3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 cup loosely-packed chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Pour about 3/4 cup enchilada sauce in the baking dish, and spread until the bottom of the dish is coated.
Top with a layer of about 8 tortilla halves so that the entire dish is covered.
Sprinkle evenly with about 1 cup black beans, 1/2 cup corn and a fourth of the onions. Then sprinkle with a heaping cup of the chicken, and about 3/4 cup shredded cheese.
Repeat with a second layer of tortillas, then sauce, then beans, corn, green onions, chicken, and cheese. Then a final layer of tortillas, sauce, beans, corn, green onions, chicken and cheese. Then conclude with a final layer of tortillas and sauce (reserving about 3/4 cup of cheese to add partway through baking).
