W.O.W. Enchilada Casserole RENEWED

As a busy mom trying to make healthier meals for my family I’ve decided to revisit some of our family favorites and spruce them up a bit, rather than trying to find completely new recipes. I received a new cookbook for Christmas called, “Deceptively Delicious,” by Jessica Seinfeld that is all about incorporating vegetable purees into your foods.

I love the idea of putting more veggies in my meals because 1) I love veggies, and 2) I’d rather do anything else in the world (even go to the dentist) than struggle to get my kids to eat their veggies every night.

So I combined some principles from Jessica’s Chicken Enchilada recipe to one of our family favorite recipes from Trader Joe’s: W.O.W. Enchilada Casserole.

So here’s my version of W.O.W. Enchilada Casserole (with lots of hidden veggies!)

Ingredients

• TJ’s Olive Oil (for pan)
• 1 bottle TJ’s Enchilada Sauce
• 1 pound cooked ground beef or ground turkey
• 6 TJ’s Green Onions, sliced, green tops preserved for garnish
• 1 package TJ’s Corn Tortillas, cut into strips
• 1 package TJ’s Mexican Shredded Cheese Blend
• 1/2 cup sweet potato puree (made ahead of time!!)
• 2 zucchinis grated and pressed to remove moisture
• 1 can TJ’s Black Beans, rinsed
• 2 TJ’s Avocados, sliced

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 450°. Swab bottom of a baking dish (appx. 8″ x8″) with olive oil & a small amount of enchilada sauce; set aside. Grate 2 zucchinis (thinly) and press between two paper towels to squeeze out the moisture before adding to a bowl. In the bowl, mix cooked ground meat, green onions, rinsed black beans, and the sweet potato puree together with a small amount of enchilada sauce. Cover bottom of dish with a layer of tortilla strips. Top with half of meat mixture, followed by a small amount of sauce and about one-fourth of the cheese. Repeat second layer in the same order. Top second layer with strips of tortillas, remainder of sauce and remainder of cheese. Garnish with green onion tops. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted, the edges are browned and sauce is bubbly; about 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and sit for 10 minutes before cutting. Top with slices of Avocado. Enjoy the deliciousness you’ve created and revel in the fact that it is loaded with veggies!

You can see here in my picture that the ground meat can also be easily replaced with chicken.