Healthy Mexican Casserole with Roasted Corn and Peppers

Sorry that my posting lately has been sporadic!  How can I be so busy?  I don't have kids and I only work one job, but lately I feel like I get home late every night and haul my exhausted self right to bed.  Two classes, lots of appointments, family parties, going out with friends... somehow I am busy and my blog posts need to elbow their way in there.

Before I post for today, can we talk about the fact that it's snowing?  A lot?  Like, I left my car in the driveway instead of the garage last night and it's totally covered?  Ugh.

Anyway back to the food.  Mark likes Mexican, so I have been trying to cook lots of it lately.  This recipe caught my eye, mainly because for some weird reason, I have two bags of corn tortillas in my fridge, and I am not sure why.  Also, it was healthy and vegetarian and sounded delicious.  Perfect storm.

Here is the weird part.  The recipe has the words "roasted corn and peppers" in it, but I am pretty sure that is a lie.  You actually roast them in a skillet on the stove with cumin and chili powder.  Yeah, I know, I am pretty sure that is called sautéing too.  My veggies were a whole lot more sautéed than pan-roasted.  Maybe that's a skill I have to work on, but to me, when you have veggies, oil, and high heat, you're sautéing (or burning to a crisp quickly if you aren't careful).  Maybe next time I will actually roast these guys in the oven so I feel like less of a fraud.

But then everything else is fabulous.  This casserole is layers of corn tortillas, the "roasted" peppers, corn, and onion, refried beans, enchilada sauce, and Mexican shredded cheese.  What's not to like?  The recipe recommends serving it with guacamole, which I didn't have but totally want to try next time.  I think it would be fabulous with sour cream or Greek yogurt as well.  Mark had third helpings of this casserole, and I ate the rest of it for lunch throughout the week.  Definitely tasty, healthy, and easy!

Recipe:

healthy Mexican casserole with roasted corn and peppers
from Pinch of Yum
serves 12

Ingredients:
2 red bell peppers
2 green bell peppers
1 jalapeño or 2 chipotle peppers
1/2 red onion
2 cups frozen corn
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
salt to taste
2 cups Mexican cheese
18 - 20 corn tortillas
1 can refried beans
2 cups red enchilada sauce

Instructions:

1) Pan roast the vegetables: dice the peppers and mince the onions.  Heat a large nonstick skillet with a little bit of oil over high heat.  Add the onion and peppers, sprinkle with chili powder and cumin, and stir.  Let the veggies rest, stir again; rest and stir until you get  anise browning on the outside of the peppers.  Remove and set aside.  Repeat the roasting process with the corn, sprinkling with chili and cumin, removing from the heat when browned and roasted on the outside.  Sprinkle with the roasted veggies with a little bit of salt and toss to coat.

2) Prep the ingredients: grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the tortillas into thin strips.  Put the refried beans in a bowl and mix with a little bit or water to make them easier to spread.

3) Assemble: spread a little bit of sauce on the bottom of the pan  Layer in order: half the tortilla trips, all the beans, half of the veggies, half of the sauce, half of the cheese.  Cover with the other half of the tortilla trips, veggies, sauce and cheese.

4) Bake: cover with foil (sprayed with cooking spray) and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted.