Mexican Casserole

This is really made up from scratch to get dinner together from food on hand—including a can of refried beans Safeway gave us by mistake. This is the second bean dish Mark said he likes!

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Ingredients

3 or 4 whole wheat tortillas

About one cup cooked brown rice

About one cup beef substitute mixed with real ground beef, cookbed

Enchelada sauce**,about 1cup,

About one cup grated cheese (I used mozarella and a other white cheese because i had it, but cheddar would taste better)

About 1/2 of 14-ounce can refried beans, mildly spiced

Garlic, olive oil, taco seasoning, or if you don't have that a little red pepper, paprika and garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Put cooked meat in a small saucepan and spices with water to just cover. Simmer about 10 minutes.  Add rice.  Keep warm

Oil the bottom of a 9 inch pie dish and put tortilla in. Add meat and rice layer. Put about 1/3 of sauce. Add second tortilla put refried beans and 1/2 of cheese. Add sauce.  Put last tortilla, sauce and last of cheese, and cook in microwave on “reheat casserole” setting.  

Serve with grated zucchini sauteed with oil and garlic and a salad with tomatoes and avocados.

** the green sauce I planned to use was past its freshness date so i made one using butter and flour roux, 3/4 cup flavorful vegetable bouillon and some taco sauce shaken in.

Tuscan White Bean and Pasta

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  This is the first bean recipe Mark actually likes. (He tolerates pinto bean and beef chili but black beans will not cross his lips). The substitutions are to use up what is on hand. The original undoubtedly tastes great also.
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• 8 oz. linguine or fettuccine ($0.63)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
• 1 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced ($0.24)
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes ($1.99)
• 10 cranks freshly ground pepper ($0.03)
• 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
• 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
• 1 15oz. can cannellini beans ($0.69)
• 4 oz. baby spinach ($0.65)
• 3 oz. shredded parmesan ($1.89)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Fill a large pot with water and place over high heat to bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions (boil for 7-10 minutes). Drain the pasta in a colander.
• While you’re waiting for the water to boil, mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and sauté for about a minute, or until it has softened and become very fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil. Sauté the tomatoes until the skins burst and the tomatoes begin to release their juices. It's important to not have the heat under the skillet too high here or the garlic may burn before the tomatoes break down. You want the garlic to brown and caramelize a bit, but not burn.
• Once the tomatoes begin to break down, add the spinach and stir it into the tomatoes until it is about half way wilted. 
• Rinse and drain the can of cannellini beans. Add the beans to the skillet and stir until they are heated through. The tomato juices will have created a thick sauce-like mixture on the bottom of the skillet at this point. Taste the mixture and add a bit more salt if needed. It should be slightly on the salty side in order to properly flavor the pasta.
• Add the cooked and drained pasta to the skillet. Toss until the pasta is coated in the sticky sauce and everything is combined. Top with shredded parmesan