So y’all know I love me some Mexican food. And if you don’t know… now you know. (Thanks, Biggie.) I actually had it in one form or another three times last week, almost four, but me and my girlfriends cancelled dinner plans one night. Besides pizza, it’s my favorite thing to eat. I’m talking stretch-pants-mandatory-no-room-at-the-inn eat. Basically I like it.
So when I tried to stop eating gluten, one of the hardest things for me to give up were flour tortillas. (No, I didn’t stop eating gluten just because I’m a trendy hipster, I read it helps with hypothyroidism and some other health issues, also I’m a little bit of a trendy hipster). Slowly and begrudgingly, I made the transition to corn tortillas, one burrito at a time, and it’s safe to say that I am now a full-blown corn tortilla convert. Sure you have to double-up on most them because they tear so easy, but they’re also drastically less calories, so I hardly feel guilty about that.
And also that just means I can add more cheese. #JessMath
The rest of the ingredients in this dish came from a few of my kitchen staples and a need to use up the remainder of the most delicious corn on the planet that we brought home from our cabin a week prior. And as I hoped, it created a beautiful, cheesy, Mexican-inspired mess.
Gluten-Free Mexican Casserole
Serves: 4-6
Cook time: about 45 minutes
You’ll Need:
1lb lean ground turkey
1 sm. red onion, chopped
2 jalapenos (or other pepper of your choice), chopped
4 T taco seasoning, or 1 packet, + 3/4 cup water, (I use Penzeys bc I love them)
2 ears fresh corn, cut off the cobb
1 can diced chiles
2 cups sharp and/or mild cheddar cheese
1/2 cup salsa of your choice, plus more for serving
1 pack small corn tortillas
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large pan, sprayed lightly with oil, heat onions and chopped peppers for about 5 minutes over med-high, until softened. Add ground turkey and cook until browned, about another 8 minutes. Stir in taco seasoning and water, and simmer over medium heat until liquid is absorbed. Stir in corn and can of chiles until combined. In a baking dish, spoon about 1/4 cup of salsa onto the bottom and layer with corn tortillas (about 5-6) to cover the bottom. Add half the turkey mixture, half the cheese, and another layer of tortillas. (You can use less this time if you want, I used 6 again.) Then add another 1/4 cup of salsa, turkey mixture, and the final layer of tortillas (again, up to you how many you’d like to use here) and the rest of the cheese. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted. (If you make this ahead of time and refrigerate it, give it a little longer to heat through.) Garnish with avocado, lime, cilantro, , sriracha, sour cream or whatever other fixins’ you like!
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This was so insanely flavorful and such an easy dinner to make. You guys know I love meals you can make ahead of time, but it also made for killer leftovers. I’d like to say we ate this three days in a row, but we hogged out so hard that the leftovers only lasted the next day.
No judgement.
I am JESSICA. Psst..My dogs are cute.