Simple Mexican Casser-Olé

It has become a normal practice that Monday's are "Mexican Monday's" in my kitchen as of late. Starting a busy week, it is always nice to be able to throw a tasty meal together with ingredients I usually have on hand or are simple to substitute out. Toss in, take out and use this as a base that can easily be manipulated around.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1  lb ground beef
• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1  cup rice, prepared
• 1  jalapeno, small dice
• 2  corn on the cob, shucked and corn cut off the cob (feel free to use canned corn, if necessary)
• 1 (10 ounce) can  enchilada sauce
• 1  tablespoon adobo seasoning
• 1⁄4 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1⁄2 tablespoon dried cilantro
• 1⁄2 lime
• 4 -6  tortillas, cut into strips
• 2  cups  Mexican blend cheese

• Toppings

•  sour cream, guacamole, black olives, salsa

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 2 quart baking dish. Set aside.
2. Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add corn, jalapeno and Enchilada sauce.Lower temp to medium. Sprinkle on the Adobo and red pepper. Mix well and let simmer for five minutes then change temp to low.
3. In a separate saucepan, combine the black beans and rice while the rice is still warm. Add cilantro and squeeze the lime. Stir to blend.
4. In the glass dish, place 1/3 of the meat mix on the bottom, followed by a layer of the rice/ bean combo. Sprinkle a little cheese then place tortilla strips to cover.
5. Repeat the layers at least one more time, but feel free to keep going if you are feeding a herd. End with the meat mixture layer and top with a healthy dose of cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
7. Top with whatever floats your boat!