Recipe: Mexican Casserole

I love making casseroles on weekends, because it means I've got my lunches covered for the work week. This weekend I made a Mexican casserole. This is a "Rookie Cookie" recipe* from the Mini-Pages (i.e. the kids pages in some local newspapers); my grandparents used to send me these fun pages, and I would cut out the recipes that I thought sounded good. So I finally got around to making this one!

Because this is meant to be a simple recipe that kids can help make, the directions leave out bits of information that may be helpful. I've added them in with italics. 

Ingredients

·         1 ¼ lbs. lean ground turkey

·         ¾ cup cornmeal

·         1 ½ cups low-fat milk

·         1 egg

·         1 tbl. chili powder

·         ¼ tsp. garlic powder

·         ½ tsp. cumin

·         1 (15 ounce) can whole-kernel corn, drained

·         1 (15 ounce) can chopped stewed tomatoes

·         1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained

·         ½ cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

 

Directions
1. Brown ground turkey over medium heat until crumbly. Drain off the fat.
2. Combine cornmeal, milk, and egg in a large bowl.
3. Add spices, corn, tomatoes, beans, and cooked turkey; stir well.
4. Coat a large (13 x 9) casserole dish with cooking spray.
5. Pour mixture into dish and top with shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes.

As with all of my recipes, I made a few changes. I didn't have any cornmeal on hand, so I used some of the Trader Joe's cornbread mix. It had corn kernels in it, and probably sugar, but I figured it would be okay. I also used basil-flavored diced tomatoes, because I couldn't find any stewed tomatoes (how different can they be?). I don't really like beans, so I chopped up red and green peppers (about half a pepper each) instead. I never measure out cheese, so I think I sprinkled way more than half a cup on there. Also, while I did actually use ground turkey, I would easily make this again using ground beef. I thought about adding in spinach and mushrooms, but I wanted to stick to the recipe somewhat, so I just ate those on the side.

This is an easy (and yummy!) recipe, so I certainly recommend it!

Image found here.

*There's even a Rookie Cookie book!