Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I love my family and I love to feed people, so I am thrilled when I get the chance to feed my family.  Living 500 miles away from them, I don’t get the chance very often.  During the summer, however, I fully embrace the experience.  I never really know how many people exactly will be showing up or what time, but we make it work.  One evening, I had at least 8 mouths to feed and I had some chicken breast, onion, a few tomatoes, and a bunch of garlic.  I saw someone posted a recipe for chicken enchilada casserole on Facebook, and decided to give it my own spin.  My little sister was a great assistant on this adventure, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience of cooking it, nor the results of the dish.  People actually fought over the left-overs…which there wasn’t much of. 

What I basically did was this:

1)      Cook the chicken breast on the stove in a pan, seasoning the way you want.  I used salt, pepper, a little cayenne, and garlic powder.

2)      Layer a 13 x 9 inch dish with enchilada sauce (either store bought or made from scratch), corn tortillas, a mix of refried beans and salsa (I add the salsa for flavor and to make the beans easier to spread), black beans, chicken, cheese, more sauce, more corn tortillas, more sauce, and finish with another layer of cheese.  It’s basically a Hispanic version of lasagna. 

3)      Bake for 30 minutes on 350 or until the cheese is melted and it starts to bubble.

4)      Let it stand for about 10 minutes before serving.