Mexican Lasagna, Freezer Style!

Over Winter Break, we took a day to freeze several meals for our undulating Wisconsin winter, including Mexican Lasagna from The Blue Plate Diner Cookbook (aka The Monty's Blue Plate Cookbook, for you Madisonians). 

We used corn from our freezer, onions and garlic from our cellar, and tomatoes and peppers from our pantry of canned goods. Our CSA is still providing us with plenty of cheese and carrots. We were fortunate enough to receive a Willy Street Co-op gift card to supply the rest of our ingredients for the double batch of this dish.

We froze both pans! Not eating it took every bit of willpower we had.

This recipe is for one batch:
Ingredients
2 tbs. olive oil
2 carrots, sliced thin
3 stalks celery, diced (you could use celeriac for a more seasonal approach)
1 tbs. crushed garlic
1 medium onion, diced
14 ounces corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)
14 ounces of black beans (prepared or canned)
14 ounces of diced tomatoes
2 or more jalapenos, finely diced (fresh or canned)
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or more!)
2 tbs. cumin
1 tbs. chili powder
12 6-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Instructions:
1. In a large frying pan, in olive oil, saute the carrots, celery, garlic and onion for 10 minutes over medium heat until tender.

2. Add the other vegetables and all seasonings.

3. Stir and cook on high heat for 30 minutes.

4. While the vegetables are cooking, line a 11X7 X 1.5 inch dish with a single layer of tortillas, each cut in half. Cover each with a layer of the vegetable filling, then a layer of cheese.

5. Continue making such layers - tortillas, vegetables, cheese - until the dish is filed or the ingredients are all used up.

6. Top with shredded cheese.

7. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

Note: We put our unbaked lasagnas in smaller, aluminum pans. They were placed in freezer bags. We plan on using these smaller trays for quick dinners on busy work nights.