Black Bean Tortilla Casserole - Freezer Meal Style

This is part of my freezer meals series... or how we survive the first few weeks after we have a baby!

I know I've shared this recipe before, but I made a couple of minor changes for the freezer version... The linked recipe on the bottom however is not updated.

When I made this to freeze, I actually did 2.5 times the recipe and made 2 to freeze and 1 to eat the night I made it (after all I was pregnant and didn't want to cook anything else that day!) The only thing different would be that the corn tortillas were a little bit soggier in the freezer meal (but I would prefer soggier tortillas in this casserole to most frozen dinners you can buy in the store! Well there are more expensive frozen meals I actually enjoy, but they're more expensive...)

Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

You'll need 1 cup chopped white (or yellow) onion and 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped.

Place in a skillet with 1 Tbsp oil and saute for 5 minutes.

You'll also need 1/2 cup picante sauce - I like the chunky stuff!

You'll also need 1/2 cup Salsa Verde. Or you can just increase the picante sauce to 1 cup. However, I loved the flavor of the green salsa!

You'll also need 1 can (14.5 oz) chopped tomatoes. I used tomatoes with chipolte peppers, but it works well with regular canned tomatoes as well.Do not drain the tomatoes.

Add the salsas and tomatoes to the pepper and onions.

Also, you'll need 2 teaspoons ground cumin.

You'll also need 2 cloves of garlic.

Mince the garlic and add to the onion and pepper mixture.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Next, you'll need 2 cans (15 ounces) of black beans.

Rinse and drain the beans.

Add the beans to the pan and stir.

Spread 1/3 of the bean mixture over the bottom of a pan. I used a 8*8 foil pan (helps with the clean up - because who wants to do dishes with a new baby!)

Use corn tortillas to form a layer over the bean mixture.

Top with 1 cup shredded cheese. I've used Cheddar and Monterey Jack - I did like the Monterey Jack cheese better, but the cheddar works fine.

Repeat layers.

1/3 Bean mixture,

and tortillas. Repeat with remaining bean mixture, tortillas and cheese... except add the cheese BEFORE you add the tortillas for the top layer.
Cover with heavy duty foil and write:
Black Bean Tortilla Casserole
Bake at 350.

Place in freezer.

You can bake this two ways: 
Thawed - remove from freezer and thaw in your fridge. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Or Frozen: Remove from freezer to oven (preheated or not...). Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

If desired remove from oven and top with 1 cup shredded cheese. Or if you don't want to add the extra cheese just let rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 5 minutes more, uncovered. Remove, let stand for 10 minutes.

Serve with any combination of: lettuce, tomato, sour cream, fresh cilantro sprigs, green onion and olives. If you're like us you may not have all of the fresh stuff on hand. I did try to have lettuce at least (and since it was toward the end of summer we tended to have tomatoes - my mom made sure to give us some from her garden.)

Enjoy!

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