Enchilada Casserole

My mom mentioned to me one time that she had came across a recipe that tasted like enchiladas, but did not require all of the hassle of trying to roll the ingredients into a tortilla shell like real enchiladas and was more filling, while feeding larger quantities of people. If you are having a bunch of friends over or are just celebrating Cinco de Mayo, this recipe is ideal for a Mexican occasion.

Ingredients:

• 14 ounce jar of Enchilada Sauce
• 3 cups of Monterey Jack Cheese
• 6 corn tortillas
• 1 can of refried beans
• 1 cup of brown rice
• 2 chicken breasts

1. Cook chicken until thoroughly cooked, then cook for 5 minutes covered in enchilada sauce on medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, bring boiling pot to boil and begin cooking rice. Preheat oven to 375 F.
3. Once chicken and rice has cooked, mix in 1 cup of the Monterrey Jack Cheese and refried beans with chicken and rice.

4. Grease casserole dish and begin layering the casserole.

5. First you want to place one tortilla shell in the bottom of the pan, then layer the chicken mixture on top of the tortilla shells, then cheese.

6. Continue to layer the mixture as follows: tortilla shell, chicken mixture, cheese, tortilla shell, chicken mixture, cheese, etc.
7. After it is all layered, place in oven for 35-45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

8. After it is done, take out of the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes then serve.

This dish goes exceptionally well with whole kernel corn and tortilla chips and salsa! I believe that this dish does well when you want to put a Mexican twist on dinners at home. I personally believe that many Americans love to change dishes up every now and then and allow other cultural foods to become part of their diet. It does not always have to be Mexican, it can also consist of Chinese, Thai, and German foods. According to http://apt11d.com/2014/02/why-americans-pay-so-much-for-housing/, about 13% of money is spent on food, so everyone might as well spend it on foods that they are going to thoroughly enjoy!