Tortilla-Black Bean Casserole

Here's Recipe #2 of the week. It's a nice lil' recipe we found in my BHG Cookbook. We originally tried it out because we were looking for new ways to use the beans in our food storage. As an added bonus, it's a vegetarian dish and I try to throw one or two of those into our weekly menus. I also have a ground beef version called Mexican lasagna which I based off a recipe found inThe Dinner Doctor. It's more flavorful (beef, duh) but it's got more fat (hence the flavor) and it's a bit more labor intensive. So we'll stick with this for today.

I'll list the ingredients and quantities as they are in the original recipe, but I never follow those. I often cut everything in half or thirds to make smaller dishes or just because I don't want to chop up that many vegetables.

In a large skillet, we'll combine:

2 c chopped onion (I did one), 1 1/2 c chopped green pepper (I did one, and there's no pic),
1 14.5 oz can of tomatoes, undrained,
3/4 c picante sauce (I used regular salsa and did 1/2 cup),

2 cloves of garlic, minced,(and here is my beautiful, Williams & Sonoma garlic press. Love it!)And 2 teaspoons cumin (or one like me - I don't like cumin much).Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in 2 15 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed (or just one).

Now comes the assembly, and it's easy. Layer 1/3 of the bean stuff on the bottom of a 3-quart dish. Top with corn tortillas. Then layer 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (I used cheddar). Repeat bean, tortilla, and another bean layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover with 1 cup of cheese and let stand 1o minutes. (I actually do more cheese layers in the dish itself and skip the cheese at the end.)

Serve with diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, onions, olives, or sour cream.