Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Mexican food has to be my favorite type food. And in "celebration" of Taco Tuesday, we had Mexican last night. This recipe was found at Gimme Some Oven. I did tweek it a little bit. It was really easy to put together. It's layered kind of like a lasagna. Instead of noodles, it uses corn tortillas.

For the chicken, you could use a rotisserie chicken and just shred it. I had a bunch of chicken breasts, so I put a few in the crock pot with some chicken stock. That way I just had to shred it when I came home.  Instead of three cups of enchilada sauce, I used two bags of Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce. This was plenty and not too spicy.

I used 2 cups of a shredded mix of Mexican cheeses from Kraft. For the top, I used Mexican crumbling cheese, aka queso fresco. Of course I'm the only one in my family that likes avocados, so I waited to put those on mine instead of "contaminating" the rest of the casserole. I ate way too much, it was so good!

Recipe

• 2 bags Frontera red chile sauce
• 16 corn tortillas, halved
• 1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced
• 4 cups (about 1.5 pounds) shredded cooked chicken
• 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
• 1 cup queso fresco (Mexican crumbling cheese)
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1/2 cup loosely-packed chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Pour about a half a bag of enchilada sauce in the baking dish, and spread until the bottom of the dish is coated. Top with a layer of about 8 tortilla halves so that the entire dish is covered. Sprinkle evenly with about  half of the black beans, half the corn and a third of the green onions. Then sprinkle with half of the chicken, and about one cup shredded cheese. Repeat with a second layer of tortillas, then sauce, then beans, corn, green onions, chicken, and cheese. Then conclude with a final layer of tortillas and the second bag of sauce (reserving the queso fresco to add part way through baking). Cover the pan with aluminum foil, then bake for 20 minutes.

Remove pan and remove aluminum foil. Sprinkle the top of the enchiladas evenly with the queso fresco, then return to the oven (uncovered) and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove pan, and sprinkle with avocado, cilantro, and remaining green onions. Serve warm.

Enjoy!