Chili Taco Casserole

 This is one of those homey, not fancy recipes that is filling and should please the kids too.  Just add a salad for your green veggies and you have a  meal. I came across this recipe that was a lower fat version of the original and I adapted it a little to make it what I think is even healthier. Apparently, the original or traditional version of this has a sour cream topping that you add toward the end of baking.  Super yummy I'm sure but having never had it that way, I don't know what I'm missing.  Besides, I just serve sour cream on the side.  The recipe also called for canned chili with beans and I never keep that on hand, but I always have beans and ground beef or turkey, plus the seasonings for chili, so I find it far easier to just put all that together when cooking the ground meat.  So for me, this is a meal I can pull from my pantry anytime.  It's also incredibly easy to just double this so you have plenty of leftovers if you want.  You can also skip the first part and use store bought chips, use baked ones to keep the fat and calories down.

Just stack a few tortillas together and slice into wedges.  My 12 year old helped me do this.

We had to try hard to not eat these before putting them into the casserole.

I browned the meat in a much larger pan and then just turned off the heat to mix everything together.

Chili Taco Casserole
Adapted from Eating Well Magazine


Recipe Ingredients

2 teaspoons canola oil
12 corn tortillas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 tbl chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 clove crushed garlic
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed
1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce (1 1/4 cups)
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon grated onion (or dried minced onion will work)
1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Coat 2 baking sheets and a shallow 3-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Lightly brush each tortilla with oil and sprinkle with salt.  Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges and arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking. Let cool. (Alternative- use purchased baked corn tortilla chips)
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. In a skillet, brown hamburger and season with chili powder, cumin and crushed garlic.  Season with salt and pepper if desired.  Stir together hamburger, kidney and pinto beans, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, onions and 3/4 cup of the cheese in a large bowl. Add 4 cups of the tortilla crisps and stir to coat them with sauce. Turn into the prepared baking dish and bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 2 cups tortilla crisps. Bake for 5 minutes longer.
Serve with sour cream and sliced avocado on the side.