Easy Mexican Casserole

This casserole is pretty easy to make and is quite tasty and filling.  I loved it with black olives, but for those of you that don't like them, they could be easily left out. It also makes a lot so it is good for a crowd (or to have some leftovers)!

Easy Mexican Casserole
From: All Recipes
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
2 cups salsa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups tortilla chips, crushed
2 cups sour cream
1/2 can of black olives, sliced
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink.  Add salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.  Stir in beans and heat through.

3. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Spread crushed tortilla chips in pan, and then spoon beef mixture over chips.

4. Spread sour cream over beef, and sprinkle olives, green onions, and tomato over the sour cream.  Top with Cheddar cheese.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken

Here is another freezer meal I made a while back.  When I put it in the crock pot, I ended up adding about 1/4 cup water to the pot because I didn't think it looked very moist.  Not sure if it needed it or not though.  This was very easy and tasty.

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken
From: Making our Marx
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 8 hours

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
juice from 2 limes
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 (16oz) bag frozen corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Prep all ingredients and place in a 1 gallon freezer bag.  Remove as much air as possible and close.  Freeze.

2.  To cook, thaw and place contents of bag in crock pot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred meat and serve on tortillas with fixings.

Southwestern Black Bean, Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad

My Sister-in-law asked for a recipe for a side to go with a Mexican dish and I looked through my recipes and found this one.  After I sent it to her, I thought it looked pretty good, so I  decided to make it for my lunches one week.  We both thought it was very good.  It is easy to make, and made enough for me to have lunch for 3 or 4 days.  I'll make this again either for lunch or as a side dish for Mexican food since I never seem to know what to serve with Mexican food!

Southwestern Black Bean, Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
From: Skinny Taste
Prep time: 20 min

Ingredients:
15 oz can black beans, drained adn rinsed
1 1/2 cups corn, cooked fresh or frozen
1 medium tomato (I actually used grape tomatoes cut in half)
1/3 red onion, chopped
1 scallion, sliced
1 1/2 - 2 lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh minced cilantro
salt and pepper
1 avocado, diced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine beans, corn, tomato, onion, scallion, cilantro, salt and pepper.

2. Squeeze fresh lime juice to taste and stir in olive oil.  Marinate in refrigerator at least 30 min.  Add Avocado just before serving

One Pot Mexican Quinoa with Black Beans

I was looking for a quick one pot meal with quinoa and came upon a recipe that I could change a little bit to fit what I wanted.  This ended up being really easy prep and quite tasty.  It was so filling and Bill didn't even mention that it didn't have meat! Definitely will make this again when I'm looking to whip up something quick with what I have in the house!

One Pot Mexican Quinoa with Black Beans
From: Adapted from Skinny Ms
Prep time: 5 min
Cook Time: 25-30 min

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained or 1 cup frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes with chilis
1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chilis
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 - 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped

 Directions:
 1.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat and saute diced onions until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and saute one additional minute.

2. Add remaining ingredients and give a quick stir.

3. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low boil and cook 15-20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and allow to sit 5 minutes covered before serving.  Fluff with a large spoon and serve.

Skillet Chicken Nachos

I was talking to my brother one night and he told me that his wife (Natalie) makes these skillet Chicken Nachos the eat often.  I immediately knew I had to try them and went out the next day to buy the ingredients.  They were definitely right up my alley and so easy to whip up!  It is a pretty healthy mixture and hits the spot when you are craving some possibly not so healthy nachos.  I made it again a couple weeks later on a Friday night when I just wanted to have a big plate of nachos and watch a movie on a Friday night.  Thanks Dan & Natalie - this recipe is definitely a keeper!

Skillet Chicken Nachos
From: Natalie Bos/ Betty Crocker
Prep time: 10 min
Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (or green)
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (7oz) can whole kernal sweet corn, drained
2 cups shredded mexican cheese blend
tortilla chips
cilantro
olive oil

Directions:
1. In a 12 inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken in oil 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.

2. Stir in Taco seasoning, tomato sauce, bell pepper, beans, corn and 1 cup of cheese.  Reduce heat to medium; cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through and cheese is melted.

3. Divide tortilla chips between plates, spoon chicken mixture evenly over chips.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and cilantro.

Quinoa Salad with Lettuce, Tomatoes, Black Beans, Corn, and Peppers with Cilantro Lime Dressing

I see a lot of quinoa salad recipes on Pinterest that have quinoa as the base, and then add in some beans, or chopped vegetables.  I wanted a salad that had both lettuce and quinoa as the base with some southwest flavor so I decided to make my own.  For the dressing I made a few tweaks on the one from the Southwest Pasta Salad and used that because I thought that would compliment the flavors nicely.

I have to say, this is my new favorite salad!  The pictures I took (One with my phone and one without the dressing) do NOT do it justice! This is a perfect spring/summer salad and can be a side salad or a main salad, and is so good even the next day!  Not to toot my own horn, but I would HIGHLY recommend this salad!

Salad Ingredients

Dressing Ingredients

Quinoa Salad with Lettuce, Tomatoes, Black Beans, Corn, and Peppers with Cilantro Lime Dressing
Created by: Elizabeth Serrano, Dressing adapted from: Our Best Bites
Prep time: 20 - 30 min


Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked Quinoa
1 can Black Beans, Drained and rinsed
3/4 - 1 cup frozen corn (or 1 can corn, drained)
1/2 a container of grape tomatoes cut in half
1 Red (or green) bell pepper, chopped
Mixed Greens
1 Avocado, chopped (optional)

Dressing:
6 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about 3 juicy limes)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar or rice vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp chili posder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp sugar (or sugar substitute)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:
1.  Cook Quinoa in water according to directions on box.  Meanwhile, prep vegetables.  Once quinoa is cooked, fluff with a fork and remove lid to let cool a bit.

2. Prepare dressing:  Place all dressing ingredients except cilantro into a jar and close tight.  Shake until all mixed.  Add cilantro and shake again.  Set aside for flavors to mingle.

3. When quinoa is cool (or at least no longer hot.  Mix together lettuce, pepper, tomatoes, corn, black beans and quinoa into a large bowl.  Before serving, pour dressing over salad and mix thoroughly.  Add avocados if desired.

Dry Black Beans in a Slow Cooker

This is a super easy recipe that will give you a bunch of black beans to eat right away or freeze.  I think they turned out just as good as a can of beans, if not better, and a bag of beans is cheaper and yields more beans!

Dry Black Beans in a Slow Cooker
From: Jacki and John Ate This
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 6 hrs

Ingredients:
1 lb bag of dry black beans (I actually used a 2lb bag)
6 cups of water per pound of beans

Directions:
1. Spread the beans out on a big tray to weed out any debris or bad looking beans.

2. Rinse beans in colander and add to slow cooker. Add 6 cups of water per pound of beans to slow cooker.

Don't they just look so good freshly rinsed!

3. Set Crock Pot to high and let cook for about 6 hours.

4. When beans are soft, put in a colander and rinse. (Alternately, I didn't rinse some mine so I could use the beans and juice in some recipes).

5. Serve or divide into meal size containers and freeze.  Use them just like canned beans in any recipe.

Black Bean, Corn, and Chicken Quesadillas

I used to not like quesadillas, not really sure why, but somewhere in the course of the last few years, I've come to love them.  They are such a simple solution for a meal and there are so many variations.  This one from Jacki has black beans, corn, onions, cheese (of course) and chicken.  The chicken isn't needed, but I liked it in the mix.  This was really easy to whip up and a perfect week night meal.  I even had lots leftover to freeze for another night!

Black Bean, Corn, and Chicken Quesadillas
From: Jacki and John Ate This
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 5 min

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp Taco or Fajita seasoning
1 cup frozen corn (no need to thaw)
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 jalapeno, diced
handful of cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
soft shell tortillas (burrito or taco size - whatever you prefer)
Butter
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (optional)
Avocado, salsa, or sour cream for topping

Directions:
1. Add black beans, diced red onion, shredded cheese, jalpenos, frozen corn, cilantro, and chicken to a large bowl and thoroughly combine.

2. Add taco seasoning to mixture to taste and stir to combine

3. Butter one side of tortilla and flip over.  Fill half of the tortilla with mixture, then fold over.

4. Heat skillet over medium heat or use Quesadilla maker (that is what we used).  Add tortilla (or two at a time).  after a couple minutes flip over if using a skillet.

5. Cut and serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or avocado


If you are going to freeze some you can either freeze the mixture on it's own, or you can flash freeze the tortilla with filling (minus the butter) and then store in a plastic bag in the freezer.  Jacki has detailed directions on her post.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

It is winter here in Chicago and even though we have had hardly any snow so far and the temps have been higher than normal, it still means it is crock pot weather for me.  Southwest flavor + Chili + Crock pot = Must make.  This has all the ingredients I love and turned out fantastic.  The quinoa cooked up just right while leaving a chili consistency that is very hearty plus the added bonus that it really only takes 10 min to prepare!   We had this for dinner and so many leftovers I ate them for several days after.   There is something to be said for a warm hearty soup/chili in the middle of winter that warms your bones and your heart.

***Please ignore the taco sauce, as I purchased it for another recipe but it somehow managed to find it's way into this picture.  In fact, imagine it to be another can of black beans that I not only forgot in the picture but forgot to put in the chili.***

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili
From: Sweet Treats and More
Prep Time: 5-10 min
Cook Time:  5-7 hrs

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 (16 oz) can black beans
1 (15 oz) corn, drained
2 1/2 - 3 cups chicken stock
2 large chicken breasts
1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tsp minced onion
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder

Instructions:
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper

2. Place everything in a 6 qt slow cooker and cook for 5-7 hours on low.

3. Remove chicken, shred it and return to slow cooker.  Keep warm until ready to serve.  Garnish with Cheese and/or sour cream.

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad

I've had my eye on this salad via pinterest for a while.  I decided to try to make it work for our lunches last week.  It turns out that it might be my new favorite salad!  It has a creamy but not overly heavy southwest dressing and lots of stuff other than lettuce - corns, black beans, avocado, what could be better!

My grocery store happened to be out of cilantro (I couldn't believe it either) so I made it with out cilantro and left the tortilla chips out as well to make it a touch healthier. This made about 3 days worth of lunches for Bill and I.   I thought it would be a pain to take at lunch, but it turned out so good that I made it again for us to eat this week!

Salad Fixings

Dressing

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad
From: Greens and Chocolate
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: None

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded chicken
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet yellow corn (or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed)
2 roma tomatoes, diced
4 green onions, sliced
1 head ice berg lettuce, washed and chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 ripe avocados, diced
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup Greek yogurt (= two 5.3 oz containers)
1 Tbsp ranch seasoning
1 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning


Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients together, excluding tortilla chips

2.  In a small bowl stir all dressing ingredients together.  Pour dressing over salad, starting with about half of the dressing.  Toss to combine then gradually add more dressing until it is dressed to your liking.  Top with tortilla chips (If desired)

My modification in prep for to go lunches: Mix together the chicken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, onion, pepper, and cilantro (if you have it) in a bowl and store it in the fridge.  I then had a small bowl of the dressing and store in fridge.  Each day, put fresh lettuce and some of the chicken mixture in a to go container, then added the avocado.  Bring some of the dressing in a separate container to add at the time.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Tacos

I love Crock Pot meals, even in the summer. Give me a Mexican/southwest crock pot recipe and you better believe I'm going to try it.  As you can probably see from my picture that I forgot scallions and what you probably can't see is that I didn't have any onion powder (but I think I disguised it well since all my spices are in my tiny bowl). So I used some dried onion instead.  Figured it would be ok, and guess what it was better than ok... it was delicious (I really need to find new words to describe my meals... I use delicious a LOT)!  And best part is that it made so much that we had left overs for lunch for the next couple of days. This is a great one to keep in my back pocket when having guests... easy to make, tastes great, and makes enough for a decent sized group.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Tacos
From: Chef in Training
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time:10 hours on low

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb chicken
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with mild green chiles
1 (15oz) can black beans
1 can corn (drained) or frozen
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 (14oz) can chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot.

2. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.

3. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

4.  Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.  Adjust salt and seasoning.  Serve over rice or in tacos.

Black Bean, Corn, and Couscous Salad

This is a great light and filling salad that is easy to make.  You could also make it with quinoa.

Black Bean, Corn, & Couscous Salad
From: Cooking Light Magazine
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
1 (10oz) box dry plain couscous
1 (16oz) Frozen corn, thawed and drained
1 (15oz) can black bean rinsed and drained
4 medium green onions, sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 2 lemons (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp slat
ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Prepare couscous according to package directions. Let cool.

2. Combine cooled couscous, corn, beans, green onions bell pepper and garlic in a bowl; mix gently.  Add lemon juice and olive oil, toss well. Season with salt and pepper.

Southwest Pasta Salad

I needed to bring a pasta salad to our small group and I was tired of always making the one pasta salad I always make.  It is tasty and all, but variety is the spice of life!  A southwest pasta salad sounds right up my alley and this turned out just perfect.  Plenty of veggies (though I think next time I may use more corn) and the dressing was very flavorful and light.  Bill, who will try anything I make but doesn't necessarily mean he likes everything, said he LOVED it more than once.  Which I definitely took as a sign to make this a standby.

Southwest Pasta Salad
From: Our Best Bites
Prep Time: 30 min

Ingredients:
1 box bowtie pasta
1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 roma tomatoes, diced (or 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes)
1 Large bell pepper, diced (red, yellow, or orange)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup frozen corn
zest from 2 limes
1/2 cup Queso Fresco or Cotija Cheese
Optional: 8oz diced cooked chicken

Dressing:
6 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about 3 juicy limes)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
2 tsp sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Directions:
1.  Boil Pasta in Salted water according to directions.

2. Zest limes and place zest in a large salad bowl.

3. To prepare dressing:  Place the lime juice, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and sugar in blender or food processor.  Process until smooth.  With motor running slowly, add oil in a steady stream until incorporated.  Add cilantro and pulse so it gets broken up, but some pieces still remain in tact.

4. When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse immediately with cold water to cool.  Place pasta in the large bowl with lime zest.  Add black beans, tomatoes, diced pepper, green onions, corn (no need to thaw corn), and chicken if desired.  Toss with dressing.  Taste, add additional salt and pepper to taste.  For best results, chill fro 1 hour before serving.  Right before serving, sprinkle cheese on top.  Serve with extra lime wedges if desired.

Black Bean Patties with Corn Relish and Avocado Cream Sauce

I saw this and knew I had to make it ASAP.  Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients and directions, it actually comes together pretty easily and is soooo good!  This recipe makes 10 patties, so I cut it in half for us and it was perfect.

Black Bean Patties with Corn Relish and Avocado Cream Sauce
From: Pennies on a Platter
Time: 40-45 min
Serves: 4-5 (makes 10 patties)

Ingredients:
For Black Bean Patties:
2 (14 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 roasted red bell peppers from a jar
2 eggs
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic
1/2 chipotle in adobo sauce
1 red onion, finely diced
1/2 - 2/3 cup Panko (or cornmeal or breadcrumbs)
salt & pepper to taste
canola oil

For Avocado Cream Sauce:
1 Avocado, pitted
1/2 cup sour cream (can use light)
Juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

For Corn Relish:
2 tsp canola oil
2 cups corn
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 jalapeno, minced
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  I the bowl of a food processor fitted with blade, process 1 can black beans, 1 roasted red pepper, eggs, oregano, cumin, garlic, and chipotle pepper until smooth.  Add the onion and pulse to combine.  Add the additional can of beans and the other roasted red pepper, then pulse a e more times until combined, but not completely smooth.

2. Pour black bean mixture into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/2 cup panko.  Stir until combined, then mix in more as needed to form a firm mixture that is the consistency of ground meat and can be rolled into a ball between your hands.  Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. While Black bean mixture is chilling, clean food processor and puree all avocado cream sauce ingredients until smooth.  Scrape sides of bowl as necessary. Set aside until ready to use. Chop tomato, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro to get ready for corn relish

4. Remove black bean mixture from fridge and shape into 3 inch patties.  Heat canola oil in a large non-stick skillet. Cook patties in batches over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, flipping once.

5.  While patties are cooking, heat canola oil in skillet.  Add corn and cook for 2 minutes.  Add garlic and jalapenos and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

6. To serve, top cooked patties with corn-relish and avocado cream sauce.  Serve immediately.

Black Bean Soup

I love black beans but had never made black bean soup.  I finally made this one I saw on Ashley's blog and it was so good, I could eat it every day (or at least once a week).  It was so simple, that I just might.  I didn't even need anything with it - although Bill had a sandwich with it.

Black Bean Soup
From: Ashley
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (I used a small can of green chiles because I didn't have a jalapeno)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
dash of cayenne
2 (15oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups beef broth
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion, jalapeno and garlic and cook until soft, about five minutes.  Stir in chili powder, cumin, and cayenne.

2. Add beans and broth and simmer for fifteen minutes.

3. Use hand blender to puree soup about halfway (or remove 1 1/2 cups of the soup and puree in a blender then return to pot.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in lime juice.  Ladle into individual bowls and add a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with Tortilla chips.