Enchilada Casserole with Roasted Vegetables

Hello! ICYMI, the blog is featuring a series of women who shared their biggest barriers to cooking. See Kelly’s Mediterranean meal-prep here, Wendy’s almond-crusted fish with caramelized lemons and browned butter here, Jocelyn’s gluten-free mini turkey meatloaves here, Holly’s spicy black bean soup with quick-pickled veggies here, and Courtney’s baked balsamic chicken breast here.

The last truly incredible woman in this February series is Justine, a doctor here in DC. Her schedule is no joke—she’s a young medical professional, after all—but neither is her commitment to her health.

Justine loves Tex-Mex flavors, and maintains a vegetarian diet at home. Because she works at a hospital, she often has little control over when she gets to eat, and cited time as her biggest barrier to eating home-cooked meals. With all of these factors in mind, I set out to create a Tex-Mex-inspired recipe that 1) creates multiple servings in one go, 2) packs in flavor as well as veggies, 3) can easily be refrigerated or frozen then microwaved and scarfed down at a moment’s notice, and 4) works for every meal of the day.

With inspiration from a family enchilada casserole recipe that Justine passed along, I worked up the gumption to incorporate some non-traditional ingredients into this version (the family recipe included cottage cheese—cooking has no rules). This casserole contains both feta and cheddar for flavor and texture, and plenty of roasted vegetables plus black beans for nutrition. It takes a bit of time up front, but once it’s finished you’ll be off to the races. Bonus: there’s no enchilada-rolling here, you just stack everything up like a Tex-Mex lasagna. Easy peasy.

Have fun!

This recipe was inspired by https://cookieandkate.com/2016/vegetarian-enchilada-casserole-recipe/.

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Everything on protopantry.com is made using our 50-ingredient minimalist pantry list. We have recipes from all over the world and for most dietary needs—explore here.

Justine’s Enchilada Casserole with Roasted Vegetables

This delicious cheesy enchilada dish with black beans and veggies will fuel you throughout the week.

Makes: 10 servings

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 70 mins

Ingredients:

For the Roasted Vegetables


• 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/3-inch slices
• 3 cups broccoli florets (a 12-ounce package will work)
• 1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch wedges
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into 1/2-inch wedges
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil (for greasing and drizzling)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

For the Black Bean Salsa


• 3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 2 15.5-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• Juice of a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/3 cup pickled jalapenos, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

For the Enchilada Sauce


• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Everything else


• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 16-18 corn tortillas, halved
• 12 ounces cheddar, shredded
• 1 1/2 cups feta, crumbled
• 3 handfuls of spinach
• Optional: hot sauce to taste

Instructions:

For the Roasted Vegetables


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (Fahrenheit) with the racks in the center and upper third of the oven.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet and the large baking dish you are using for your casserole (we used a 10” x 15” glass dish) with olive oil.
3. Drizzle and season the broccoli, carrots, and onions with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread across the baking dish and sheet in a single layer (it doesn’t really matter what goes where).
4. Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30-35 minutes, switching the pans to opposite racks and tossing the vegetables halfway through. The vegetables are done when they are well-caramelized, but not burnt.

For the Black Bean Salsa


5. While the vegetables roast, place the diced tomatoes in a large sieve placed over a large mixing bowl, and add a generous pinch of salt. Stir the tomatoes and gently press to encourage them to release their juices and drain well.
6. After allowing the tomatoes to drain for about ten minutes, empty the bowl that collected the tomato juices and place the drained tomatoes and all other salsa ingredients in the bowl. Stir to combine.

For the Enchilada Sauce


7. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely combined.

To Assemble


8. When the vegetables finish roasting, wipe down the glass baking dish and scrape off any browned bits to prepare for baking. Grease the dish lightly with olive oil.
9. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
10. Add 1/4 of the salsa to the bottom of the baking dish, spreading in a relatively even layer (don’t stress too much, it’s difficult to mess this up).
11. Arrange a layer of corn tortillas on top of the salsa, using five-six tortillas. Quarter the tortillas as needed to fill gaps. Again, perfection is not the goal.
12. Add 1/4 of the salsa, 1/3 of the roasted vegetables, 1/3 of the cheddar, 1/3 of the feta, and 1/3 of the spinach on top of the tortillas. Add a few dashes of hot sauce for a spicy casserole.
13. Repeat steps 4-5 twice more to form additional layers of the casserole.
14. Cover the casserole with foil and bake on the center rack, covered, for about 25 minutes.
15. Remove the foil and bake for seven-ten minutes more (if the cheese is beginning to brown, remove the casserole from the oven). If you are planning to eat the casserole immediately, add the enchilada sauce over the top while uncovering the dish. Allow the casserole to rest for at least ten minutes before serving.
16. If reheating the casserole throughout the week, do not add enchilada sauce until immediately before reheating. This will prevent your casserole from drying out in the microwave.

Notes and Nutrition Information

• This casserole is a great meal prep dish or party food. It will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for three to four days. You can also freeze it in airtight containers in individual servings for up to six months.

• If you are reheating this casserole, store the enchilada sauce separately and pour a little over each serving right before putting it in the microwave/toaster oven.

• Toss a fried egg over this bad boy for breakfast. You won’t regret it.

• I used a 10” x 15” glass baking dish (150 square inches)—feel free to scale the ingredients based on the “square-inchage” you’re working with. You can easily make a larger or smaller casserole.

• One tenth of the recipe as written contains approximately 623 calories, 17 grams of fat, 87 grams of carbohydrates, 36 grams of protein, 20 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 566 milligrams of sodium.