So, you know how they say that everyone should have that one “go-to” meal to use for entertaining, etc? Okay, maybe that’s just my family, but basically I was talking to my cousin the other day and she said that she’s been taking this class and they told her that when you’re going to have people over, instead of stressing over what you’re going to make, you should just have a “go-to” meal that is simple to make, you’ve made it a million times so you know there won’t be any surprises (oh wait, I was supposed to marinade my chicken overnight first? But my guest are gonna be here in an hour!), and you know that most people like it (escargot and liver pate: maybe not the best idea for dinner guests). SOO…that got me thinking…what is MY go-to meal? And I realized that here it is: It is called Mexican Lasagna, and I have never met someone that didn’t love it! I’ve made it when we’ve had friends over, I’ve brought it to neighbors who were in the middle of a move, and just recently I emailed it to some of my friends and family and each of them that have made it so far have also said that they and their family LOVED it! Yay!

And, to make it even better, I got the recipe from Rachael Ray, and I’m sure you probably know what that means: it is QUICK to make!! So, no need to keep you waiting, here is the recipe:

Mexican Lasagna

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 lb ground chicken (or turkey, beef, whatever you have)
• 1/2 red onion (or scallions, white onion, etc), chopped small
• 2 tsp - 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• s&p
• 1 (14 oz) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans (or pinto, etc), drained
• 1 can corn (or 1 c. frozen corn)
• 1 cup taco sauce
• 8 tortillas, cut in half (whole wheat highly recommended!)
• 2 1/2 c. shredded cheese
• black olives, chopped (optional, but if you like them DEFINITELY use them!)

1. Preheat oven to 425°
2. Heat pan for a minute on medium heat. Add oil. Add ground chicken, salt & pepper, chili powder, & cumin. Saute until chicken and onion are browned.
3. Add stewed tomatoes, taco sauce, beans, and corn. Heat through. Taste, and if needed, season with extra salt.
4. Spray 8×8 baking dish with nonstick spray. Build layering half of meat mixture, then half of tortillas, then half of cheese. Repeat.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes until cheese is brown & bubbly.
6. Garnish with chopped olives and serve (I usually like to wait a couple minutes before slicing it).

Recommendations:

• Meat: you can use whatever ground meat you want in this, I just always use chicken or turkey because I feel it gives it a lighter taste, if that makes sense? And I’m sure I heard somewhere that chicken and turkey are healthier than ground beef.
• Tortillas: I used to use just normal flour tortillas for this, but got on a health kick one day (which doesn’t really mean much with me!) and decided to start using whole wheat tortillas more! I tried this recipe with whole wheat tortillas instead of white tortillas and I will NEVER go back! They give it a kind of sweeter taste that REALLY compliments the other flavors!
• Cheese: I would definitely recommend using one of those “fancy shredded” cheese blends for this recipe. That’s what I usually buy, and once I made this with just normal shredded cheese because that’s all I had, and for some reason it bubbled over…and all over the bottom of my oven, which was SO fun to clean after. So definitely a no-go on the normal shredded cheese for this.

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