Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

 Happy Spring! It's so nice to see our roses blooming, and our garden has come back to life. 

Our wisteria was in its full glory, last weekend, making the bees very happy.   Our tomato plants are tiny little guys, and I am so looking forward to our homegrown tomatoes. (Thank you, my wonderful husband.) It'll be a few more months, but the wait will be worth it.

The extra hour of light, makes cooking dinner more enjoyable.  Right now, I'm going through a temporary health setback-- nothing serious. My thyroids are acting a bit wonky, so that leaves me feeling super fatigued by the time I get home from work.   My doctor and I are adjusting some meds, which might take a few more weeks to get my energy level back.  In the meantime, I relish any recipes that don't require a lot of work.   I try to make a meatless dinner at least once a week so I can limit my red meat intake.

As I was driving home, I was taking a mental inventory of what's in my fridge and pantry.  I shop at Trader Joe's on Fridays, so I had a fresh package of their flour tortillas in my grocery bag, and I had picked up a bag of their packaged three-cheese mix. I was planning on making quesadillas for dinner, since those are always so quick to do.

It's funny how I hoard recipes in my brain.  Suddenly, I remembered this recipe for Tortilla and Black Bean Pie, that I had bookmarked in one of my Martha Stewart Everyday Food cookbooks a very long time ago.   I always thought that it looked so pretty, as a layered tortilla pie.  Well, what do you know? I had all the ingredients! Quesadilla could wait for another time. It was time to make this recipe:

Onions, scallions, fresh garlic and jalapenos... check.  Chop, chop, chop.

Canned black beans are a pantry staple. We love them, especially mixed with corn.  This recipe is very simple to make.  Onion, garlic and jalapeno are seasoned with salt and pepper, and a little cumin.  They are sauteed until just soft... just a few minutes.

 

Drained and rinsed black beans are added to the skillet and a bottle of beer (or water) and then simmered until the liquid is pretty much evaporated-- 10-12 minutes.

A spring form pan is perfect for layering the flour tortillas with the bean and corn filling. I used the bottom of the pan as a guide, to trim the tortillas.  This took less than one minute. 

There's a little bit of liquid left, but I turned the heat  off and added some frozen corn, along with chopped scallions.

Placing a flour tortilla on the bottom (I used a little non-stick spray for insurance), I used a slotted spoon to evenly spread 1/4 of the filling, and then added about 1/2 cup of grated cheese.  I repeated this and then popped this into a 400F oven for about 20 minutes.

As I've written many times-- there is seldom much extra t time for me to "food style" when dinner is ready on a week night. My men are hungry, and I'm tired and hungry.  So, I snapped a shot or two, not really sure if I would even post this recipe.

Dinner is ready, in just under an hour. On a Friday, after a very hectic work week. Amen.

TASTING NOTES: What you don't see is the cilantro nor salsa, that is the perfect garnish for this dinner.   My opinion of this dish is very simple. I like it!  It's good. It's flavorful. It's hearty. It's meatless, but still very filling. My husband went back for seconds, and I'm not surprised. He loves black beans and corn so I knew this would please him.  Even though I used one whole jalapeno, this was not at all spicy.  The beer? The beans didn't taste like beer, in a good way.  I love beer, but I would think it adds just a bit more flavor to the beans. I'm sure you could use water, instead.
The tortilla edges get a little crunchy, from the melted cheese. The interior of the tortillas becomes very soft-- pretty much like an enchilada. 

So, I decided this recipe is worth sharing, because I would make this again.  I would think I could easily add some cooked chicken to this, for a little extra protein.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. 




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