I discovered a couple things this weekend. The first was that lasagna is not solely for the Italians. The second was that there is a cure for droopy tulips (exciting weekend, huh?)
So, which of these thrilling feats should I talk about first? How bout' the flowers. I bought a beautiful bunch of orange sunset tulips on Saturday afternoon (yes, orange sunset is a color. Google it). I got them home quickly, filled up a big vase of water, cut off the the bottom of the stems...I did everything you're supposed to do. But as soon as the tulips went into the vase, they drooped right over. Major problem. No one wants a droopy tulip. So I went to my trusty friend, Google, and searched for cures for droopy tulips (something I never thought I would Google). People recommended sugar water, ice water, little to no water, even vodka water. I wasn't about to waste my vodka on tulips (sorry guys) so I sought a second opinion (aka, the next Google search result). I found that by poking a pin-sized hole in the stem right under the flower head, something magical happens and the tulips perk right up. I figured it was worth a shot (and I didn't have to part with my vodka) so I got to pricking. Nothing happened right away, and I had honestly forgotten about it, until this morning (Easter morning) I woke up to perky tulips! It was the resurrection of my tulips! Or the Easter bunny. One of the two. And if you don't believe me, see for yourself!
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| Before (Sad Tulips) |
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| After (Happy Tulips) |
So now that I cured the world of droopy tulips, I'll get back to what I'm really good at- food. We had a little pre-Easter family gathering on Saturday night at our place and I offered to cook (surprising, I know). My initial thought was vegetarian lasagna. I've been really into veggies lately and what better place to put them than layered between pasta and cheese. But, instead of going to the store in the car I don't have to pick up a bunch of ingredients with the money I also don't have, I opted instead to use what I had on had and try my hands at a Mexican-style lasagna. This was seriously easy and seriously delicious. Seriously.
Lasagna Mexicana
Olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 lb ground beef, turkey, or chicken
Taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 cup corn
4-8 tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese
Start by heating olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat (a tablespoon or two is enough). Give the oil a minute or two to heat up, then toss in the onion and garlic. If you don't have onion and garlic, it wouldn't be the end of the world if you left it out. Let the O & G cook a couple minutes then add your ground meat. I used ground turkey, but you can use whatever you like. Ground turkey is pretty inexpensive for the quality, it's a lot less greasy than ground beef, and the other ingredients in the lasagna keep it moist and delicious. Once the meat is about halfway cooked (you'll know) add your taco seasoning. You can use the taco seasoning from the packet (like Ortega or Old El Paso) or you can use another blend. My favorite is Chili 9000 from Penzeys Spices. I probably use about a tablespoon of seasoning, maybe less. I'm really bad at measuring, if you didn't figure that out already. Let the meat cook until just done (again, you'll know). Stir in the tomatoes, black beans, and corn. Set aside for now.
Lightly coat a casserole dish with olive oil or cooking spray (I used an 8x8- any similar size would work). Now, you build the lasagna. The first layer is tortillas. I cut the tortilla into quarters and put the point of each tortilla quarter into each of the four corners of the casserole dish. If you're not a visual-spacial geek like me, just throw the round tortilla in the square dish. It will be fine, I promise.
Top the tortilla with about a fourth of the meat mixture. Then, a good layer of shredded cheese. Whatever cheese you please. On top of the cheese, more tortilla. Then mean. Then cheese. Rinse and repeat. Just kidding, don't rinse. That would be gross. Just repeat the layers until you run out of ingredients. Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Slice and serve with your favorite burrito toppings- salsa, guacamole, sour cream. Yum. You won't regret this decision. It's just as good the next day, too, so have at it!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with good food and perky tulips. Enjoy the sunshine where you are.
CIAO!
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