I love tacos. The only problem with making tacos is that it makes a mess in the kitchen and the kids make a mess eating it. I wanted to come up with something that had the delicious flavors of tacos but the ease of a meal in one pan. So I devised this Mexican lasagna recipe. It was delicious and I will definitely be making it again. I loaded it with veggies and beans for the kids and they absolutely loved it!  

Taco lasagna  

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 onion diced
• 1 package shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1 package queso fresco 
• 1 egg
• 1 red pepper diced (I used 2)
• 1 poblano pepper diced (I used 2)
• 1 can black beans drained 
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes OR 1 can green chilis (not enough room for both)
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 1 package of tortillas - I used flour
• fresh cilantro
• 1 lime - zest and juice
• nonfat greek yogurt
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

Directions: 

1. Grease a 13x9 in pan with olive oil to prevent sticking
2. Place enough tortilla shells to cover the bottom of the pan - set aside
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
4. Add olive oil to pan on medium heat
5. Add 1/3 of diced onion to pan and begin to sauté
6. Add ground beef, salt, and pepper to pan, brown and break up
7. In a second pan add the remaining onion, red pepper, and poblano pepper. Sauté until soft and even a little brown
8. Once meat is brown, add taco seasoning and follow instructions 
9. Add can of roasted tomatoes to the beef mixture once it is brown, sauté to let water bake off
10. Drain excess liquid off of the mixture
11. Let cool and place into large mixing bowl (I didn't actually wait for it to cool - but it seems like a prudent step)
12. Add the other pan full of veggies to the mixing bowl and let cool (or not, whatever)
13. Add the drained black beans to the mixture in the bowl
14. Crumble the queso fresco and add the whole crumbled package in
15. Add the entire package of Mexican cheese, the egg, and the lime zest and juice
16. Stir mixture well then layer on top of the tortillas in the pan, top with enchilada sauce, then layer another set of tortillas, meat/veggie mixture, then enchilada sauce. I only fit two meat layers then topped it off with tortillas and sauce on the top. 
17. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes then let cool for at least ten minutes. My crew was hungry we probably didn't wait ten minutes and we could have waited longer. It takes time for it to cool and stick together, but you know my crew was starving so we just scooped it into bowls and served it up. 
18. Serve with a scoop of nonfat greek yogurt (you will seriously never use sour cream again!) and sprinkle chopped cilantro on top. 

It probably took me about half an hour to get it into the oven then another 25 minutes to cook, then 10 (ish) minutes to cool. While it was cooking I folded laundry and poured myself a glass of wine. 

It was so delicious. My husband loved it, I loved it, and most important, my KIDS LOVED IT. I didn't have to count bites with either one of them.