Quesadilla Casserole

By Paul Briand

The folks at McCormick, the spice people, have come up with what I think is a great idea for people who are not only spice challenged but meal idea challenged as well.

McCormick is now selling what it calls "Recipe Inspirations" -- all-in-one package that includes pre-measured spices, a shopping list and recipe card for a variety of meals.

I chose this Quesadilla Casserole because I've done other dishes that use layers of flour tortillas in a lasagna-type arrangement with layers of meat and cheese, and I wanted to see how it measured up. It was great.

This recipe package included all the spices for the dish, all measured out in separate little packages: Chili powder, ground cumin, minced garlic, oregano leaves and crushed red pepper.

Here's how it came together:

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion (I just used one medium sized onion)

2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (4 1/2 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained (I used frozen corn ... less sodium)

1 can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped green chiles, undrained

6 flour tortillas (8-inch)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Brown the beef and onion in large skillet over medium-high heat, when cooked through drain fat;

2. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles, mix well;

3. Stir in the spices, except red pepper, and bring to boil;

4. Reduce heat to low, simmer 5 minutes and add red pepper, if desired;

5. Spread 1/2 of beef mixture over bottom of baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking oil

6. Top with enough tortillas to cover mixture (some cutting of tortillas and overlapping may be required);

7. Layer with half of remaining beef mixture and half of cheese;

8. Add another layer of tortillas;

9. Top with rest of beef mixture and red of cheese;

10. Bake in oven pre-heated to 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through and bubbly;

11. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I'll definitely try more of these "Recipe Inspirations."