Birthday Dinner

On Monday night, we grilled some chicken, which we had for dinner. Rather than have the same, grilled chicken again on Tuesday, I decided to look for a recipe that would use the chicken. I stumbled across RR's recipe for Mexican Lasagna. I made quite a few changes, because I just used the ingredients that I already had in my pantry.

I thought it was a good dinner and you could always assemble the lasagna the day before you're eating it and keep it in the fridge until dinner time. But we love Mexican food and we love all these ingredients- corn, onion, black beans, cheese, etc.!

It was also Ivy's first birthday yesterday!!! Can you believe it?!?! I can barely believe that she's ONE! She had the fabulous canine cuisine of porterhouse steak and she absolutely loved it. She literally licked the bowl clean. She also got 2 new toys. Happy Birthday, Ivy!!!

Mexican Lasagna

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack2 scallions, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

E’s Notes:

• I did not use ground chicken breast. I diced up our grilled chicken tenders.
• I sautéed the onions and then added can of black beans, a can of petite diced tomatoes and some frozen corn.
• I seasoned the mixture with chili powder, cumin, chipotle pepper, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. [Taste the mixture to see if it needs more seasoning.]
• Then, I added the chicken and layered the lasagna- I used four cheese Mexican blend.

Ivy is ONE!

Ivy's gourmet dinner.

Once we put the bowl down, she did not look up!

She licked the bowl clean!