Turkey Enchiladas

Turkey Enchilada  Adapted from Taste of Home Casseroles magazine
1lb lean ground turkey
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 can (15oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14 1/2 oz) Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
12 corn tortillas
2 cups reduced fat shredded Mexican style cheese

Directions:  In a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook the turkey, green pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.  Stir in the beans, salsa, tomato sauce, tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder and cumin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Spread 1 cup of meat sauce into a 9x13 baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Scoop meat mixture into corn tortillas and cover with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Some people prefer to layer the tortillas, lasagna style, with this casserole.  My family, though, doesn't like when the tortillas become soggy so I am just going to dip the meat mixture

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I put the ground turkey in a skillet.

#2 Preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

#3 I diced a green pepper and cut up an onion and then threw them in the skillet with the turkey.

#4 I diced up 2 garlic cloves and threw them in , as well.

#5 I drained and rinsed 2 cans of black beans and they went in along with  . . .

1 can of tomato sauce

1 jar of Mexican-style diced tomatoes and 1/2 jar of salsa.  I saved the other half of jar of salsa to serve while eating.

#6 I added 1 tsp each of onion powder, garlic powder and cumin.  Stirred and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

#7 I took a tortillas and filled them with the mixture.  I then rolled and placed them in the baking dish.

#8 I sprinkled cheese over the rolled tortillas.  I then filled the other half of the pan with the remaining meat/bean mixture and sprinkled cheese over that side, too.  I let it bake for about 10 minutes.

The Finished Product:

Review:

This was a very quick and easy Mexican fix.  It had all of the fabulous flavors of Mexican food but only took about 20 minutes to cook.

I used whole wheat tortillas to fill but this could very easily become the topping on a taco/Mexican salad.  you could also use hardshell corn tortillas, too.  You could also put some corn chips on a plate, layer it with the meat/bean mixture, sprinkle with cheese and pop in the microwave for a minute or so and have some fabulous nachos.

I made this dish 2 ways.  First, I filled some shells, sprinkled with cheese and baked.  Second, I just put the bean mixture in the dish, sprinkled with cheese and baked.  I did this because some times the tortillas fall apart while baking, especially whole wheat ones, so I wasn't sure which ones the kids would eat better.

Of course, my family ate this dish up because it was Mexican!  LOL

Hope you enjoy!
April