enchilada lasagna

I've been meaning to try this recipe out for a while now, but life keeps taking me out to dinner or requesting a movie night with friends, so finally, after much ado, I had a chance to try out my ingenious enchilada lasagna. I've seen tons recipes for enchilada casserole, and I love the concept. So, tonight I winged this one, and made up my very own version.

Stuff you need: Corn tortillas- although, I 'spose wheat would work too 2. 1 can enchilada sauce 3. 1 onion 4. 1 can black beans 5. cheese of some sort (optional) 6. Your fave spices

Start by preheating your oven to around 350. My ghetto oven doesn't have an "I'm preheated alarm", so I turn on the oven while I prep, and then throw everything in and hope for the best. While the oven is preheating, open and drain your can of beans. Chop up your onion, and add that and the beans to a good sized bowl for mixing. Add your favorite spices (I like garlic salt and cumin) and mix everything together.

Pull out a small baking dish, and pour a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan- just enough to cover the entire base. Then cut 2 tortillas in half so they fit flush against all 4 sides of the dish. You will put each half on one side of the pan, and then one whole tortilla goes in the middle. Thus, each layer of the casserole will use 3 tortillas total.

On top of the tortilla layer, put more enchilada sauce. Then top that with the bean/onion mixture, and cheese if you're using it- I only had a little cheese, but more cheese and tomatoes would have both been a fine addition :)

Keep layering your casserole in this fashion until the pan is full or you're out of ingredients. Sauce. Tortillas. Sauce. Filler. Sauce. Tortillas. Sauce... etc. etc. etc.

Finally, throw everything in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until warmed through. Cut your portions, and serve it up with some chopped lettuce and your favorite salsa on the side.

For my first attempt, this was a total success. The flavors were great, and it was just what I had been hoping for. Next time, I think I'll definitely add more cheese, sauté my onions before assembly, add fresh tomatoes to the filler, and cook it with foil on top, instead of just bare. Try your own alterations to make this dish your own too! After a few more tweaks, this will definitely be a winning recipe :)

mushroom spinach lasagna

So this one time in college, my roommates had some kind of dinner function to attend. Unfortunately, they decided to excessively day-drink, and when the time came to prepare said meal, they all looked to me (who was not totally sober herself). In a panic, I called my mom and said I'm have to make lasagna! How do I do it?! Mom said that there was no way I could pull off a complicated meal like that in such a short period of time, especially since I had never made lasagna before in my life. Let me tell you. Not only was it DELICIOUS, but it was easy, and ever since then, it has totally become a staple in my household.

Since one of my favorite people in the world was in town today from NYC, I thought it only appropriate to make some veggie lasagna, open up a bottle of wine, and catch up on life. I love this recipe because people always think you went to all this effort to make a fancy meal, when it's actually crazy easy.

Stuff you need: 1. No-boil lasagna noodles 2. Lotsa sauce (always get more than you think you need) 3.Mozzarella or Italian style shredded cheese 3. Ricotta cheese 4. Veggies for the inside

While your oven is preheating, sauté your vegetables, boca crumbles, or whatever else you'd like for filling in a skillet with some olive oil and seasoning- I used mushrooms and fresh spinach for this particular version.

When the filling is browned up and looking good, you can start assembling your lasagna in a nice big casserole dish-

Layer 1: sauce.

Layer 2: noodles

Layer 3: more sauce!

Layer 4: shredded cheese, big plops of ricotta, and all those yummy sautéed veggies

Now rinse wash and repeat. Go back to layer 1 of sauce and keep stacking up everything until your casserole dish is full! On the top most part, just do sauce, noodles, sauce, shredded cheese. Cover with foil, pop in the oven, and in about an hour you have yourself a saucy, cheesy, gooey, TASTY meal.

Now crack open that second bottle of wine and dig in!