Enchilada Casserole

February has me in the doldrums. It is dark and rainy and all-around dreary. I'm sick of winter, but we still have a month to go before spring. This bleak weather has me craving comfort foods. And Enchilada Casserole fits the bill quite nicely.

A rich cornbread crust is topped with spicy ground beef and a blizzard of shredded cheese. It is simple and delicious, the perfect weeknight meal.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

P.S. I haven't tried it, but I bet you could substitute cooked, shredded chicken for the ground beef. It would be the perfect way to use up leftover roast chicken!

Enchilada Casserole

Adapted from Pinch of Yum and Skinny Mom

Serves: 6

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 (14 ounce) can cream style corn

1 package (8.5 ounce) cornbread mix (like Jiffy)

1 tablespoon oil

1 pound ground turkey or ground beef

4 teaspoons taco seasoning

Salt

1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce, divided

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Sour cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 8" x 8" baking dish and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and corn. Stir in cornbread mix. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes, until cornbread is just set and golden brown. 

While the cornbread is baking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium high. Cook turkey, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in taco seasoning and salt to taste. Allow spices to toast for 1 minute. Stir in half of the enchilada sauce.

Once cornbread is baked, pierce it all over with a fork. Slowly pour the remaining half of the enchilada sauce over the baked cornbread. Top with cooked ground turkey. Sprinkle cheese over top. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted. Allow casserole to rest 5 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve with sour cream. 

Turkey Feta Spinach Burgers with Pepperoncini Sauce

These are my all-time favorite burgers because of the way the briny feta cheese, earthy spinach and mellow onions combine with the zing from the sauce. It's a pleasure party for the palate.

If you're looking for a different take on July 4 fare, give these a try.

Mixing the feta and spinach with the turkey keeps the burgers super moist and flavorful. The creamy and spicy pepperoncini sauce delivers a refreshingly cool topper for this casual dinner.

I used to only cook these on the stovetop with my grill pan, but I've been toying with variations to keep the burgers from falling apart on my outdoor grill. Thanks to some collaboration with my nutritionist sister-in-law Karen S., this recipe ensures success with either cooking method!

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Turkey Feta Spinach Burgers with Pepperoncini Sauce
Inspired by chef Sara Moulton

For the burgers
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion
5 oz baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
3 ounces feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 egg
1/4 cup or more of old fashioned oats, optional

For the sauce:
1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup low fat mayo
2 tablespoons seeded and chopped pepperoncini peppers (from a jar)
1 tablespoon pepperoncini liquid from the jar
1 or 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to brown, about 5 or 6 minutes.  Add spinach and stir until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a colander and let spinach and onion drain off excess liquid.

As spinach cools, you can mix up the creamy pepperoncini burger topper. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the sauce. Stir well and set aside.

Now you are ready to form your burgers. Mix together ground turkey, egg, spinach and onion, feta cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. If mixture seems too moist and loose, add oats to help add form. Shape into patties. You'll get four large or six to eight slider-sized burgers. Use whatever size makes sense for your family.

Spray burgers with cooking spray and grill over medium heat for about six minutes on each side.

If using buns, spread some pepperoncini sauce on the bottom buns and add the burgers. Spoon more  sauce over the burgers and top with bun. Or go bun-less and just use the sauce.

DIY Taco Seasoning

There's no better day for a taco than Cinco de Mayo!

At my house, we need no excuses to eat tacos for dinner. My DIY taco seasoning is quick to prepare and my kids have fun experimenting with all kinds of ways to top the meat in their taco shells.

One day, after promising tacos for dinner, I went to pull the fixings from the taco shelf in my pantry (yes, I do devote an entire shelf to this cuisine) and found no seasoning packets. So I went looking for fixes in the spice cabinet. After lots of experimenting, I've settled on this make-your-own concoction.

We think it tastes way better than the pre-mixed envelopes of spices. Bonus: No additives.

Of course I've used this seasoning on ground beef, turkey and chicken and diced leftover roasted chicken and turkey. Works every time!

Ole!
Andrea

DIY Taco Seasoning

2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne (red) pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl. This recipe makes enough for a few taco dinners, so store what you don't use in an airtight container.

Stir 2 tablespoons of DIY taco seasoning into 1 pound of cooked and drained meat, along with 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of water. (Note: If you want to avoid the cornstarch, just leave it out and reduce the water.)

Heat through over medium heat.

Now you're ready to dish up some tasty soft or hard tacos along with your favorite toppings. Enjoy your fiesta!

Mexican Lasagna

I wasn't in the mood to cook, but I had some ground turkey in the fridge that was about to get funky. I also wasn't in the mood to go to the store, so it was time to get creative with my pantry.

I pulled some flour tortillas and corn out of the freezer, a can of enchilada sauce off the pantry shelf. Let's make this as easy as possible. I thought to myself. No need to chop onion and garlic; I just used spices from the cupboard to add pizzazz to the turkey browning on the stove. Then I started layering. Zippy sauce + flour tortillas + spicy filling + creamy cheese. Repeat. Bake. Stuff face. Mmmm.

What's that they say about necessity being the mother of invention? Well, it's also the mother of dinner. Delicious dinner.

Mexican Lasagna
Serves: 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey or ground beef
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 tablespoon taco seasoning*
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper
1 (14 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
5-6 flour tortillas, halved to fit in the baking dish
1 2/3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream, for serving
Salsa, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 8 minutes. If there is lots of liquid or fat in the pan, drain it off. Stir in corn, taco seasoning, and onion powder. Allow the spices to toast for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour about 1/3 cup enchilada sauce into a 9" baking dish and spread it around so it covers the bottom. Arrange tortillas in the baking dish to cover the sauce. Top tortillas with half of the turkey mixture and 1/2 cup cheese. Cover cheese with another layer of tortillas. Pour another 1/2 cup enchilada sauce over the tortillas and layer on remaining turkey mixture and another 1/2 cup cheese. Top with a final layer of tortillas, remaining enchilada sauce (about 1/2 cup), and remaining 2/3 cup cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Allow Mexican Lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before serving with sour cream and salsa.

*I used Penzey's Fajita Seasoning. If you don't have taco seasoning, I think a mixture of chili powder and cumin would do the job quite nicely.

Bacon Cheeseburger Rice

I was in search of dinner inspiration last week, and I went old school. People, I busted out the church cookbook from 2001.

These are the recipes of my youth. The casseroles, the jello salads, the cakes eaten off Styrofoam plates in the church basement. Comfort food made by people who love you. The smile on my face grew wider as I flipped through each page. Yes, I was thinking about how good Bonnie's Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole is, but more than that, I was thinking about how good the people are.

The recipe I landed on was contributed by Amy, our fearless babysitter back in the 90's. She took us to the county fair and let us swim until we were pruney. We spent summers cruising in the backseat of her giant whale of a car, listening to Billy Joel's Greatest Hits. I could hear the opening strains of Piano Man whispering through my subconscious as I made Amy's Bacon Cheeseburger Rice.

This is fall-is-here comfort food at its finest. Quick, easy, and delicious, The husband and I couldn't stop eating it. I kept sneaking bites as I was cleaning up the dinner dishes. Truth. Bacon Cheeseburger Rice will be a regular on the menu rotation around here.

Thanks for a divine hot dinner, Amy. And thanks for being such a great babysitter.

Bacon Cheeseburger Rice
Serves: 4-6
Gently adapted from the Randall Memorial Baptist Church Cookbook

6 strips bacon
1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
Salt and pepper
1 3/4 cups water
2/3 cup barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Once the bacon is cool enough to handle, crumble and set aside. Drain all but 1 tablespoon bacon grease from the pan and return to medium heat.

Add ground beef or turkey to reserved bacon grease and cook, stirring, until cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add water, barbecue sauce, mustard, and onion powder. Bring to a boil and stir in rice. Sprinkle with cheese. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved bacon before serving.

Pumpkin Black Bean Chili

According to both the calendar and the weather, fall is officially here. This means it's time to break out the cozy sweaters, the flannel sheets, and, perhaps most importantly, the crock pot.

The slow cooker totally makes me feel like Wonder Woman. Why, yes, I can pick up the dry cleaning, grocery shop, clean the bathroom, and defeat crime while dinner cooks away on my kitchen counter. No cape necessary, thank-you-very-much.

To help you channel your inner super hero, the folks at Red Gold Tomatoes are having a slow cooker bonanza over on their Facebook page. They are giving away two Crock-Pots each day until October 8. (That's a lot of slow cookers, people.) They're also featuring some tasty-looking recipes in case you're lacking dinner inspiration.

Speaking of dinner inspiration, puh-lease check out this Pumpkin Black Bean Chili. We usually consider pumpkin for sweets: pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake. But don't put baby pumpkin in a corner. Try it out in a savory recipe, too. It adds delicious richness and depth.

Without further ado, let's get slow cooking. The world needs a few more super heroes.

Black Bean & Pumpkin Chili
Adapted from Red Gold Tomatoes
Serves: 10

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 pound ground turkey or chicken
Salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
2-3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice and Cilantro
1 (15 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
For serving: shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped avocado, tortilla chips (optional)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and ground turkey. Cook, stirring occasionally, until turkey is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chili powder, cumin, and coriander and cook for 1 minute to toast the spices. Stir in 2 cups chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to incorporate any browned bits.

Transfer mixture to slow cooker. Add beans, tomatoes, and pumpkin and stir to combine. If the mixture looks too thick, stir in additional cup of chicken broth. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite chili toppings.

P.S. The kind people at Red Gold Tomatoes provided me with tomatoes to test this recipe, but the opinions are all mine.