Southwest Lasagna.

After my food woes rant, I guess I am on a food kick. Bear with me.

This week I made Southwest Lasagna. My great cook of a mother-in-law makes this often and it's definitely a favorite. In my head, it's a tried and true Kasowski recipe but I think she got it from the Petersons, who are not of Spanish decent from what I can tell (they have a couple cute red heads). But this recipe is my favorite southwesty dish. Southwesty - that's a word, right?

I'm going to type out the recipe verbatim from my K family cookbook:

Directions
Boil 9 lasagna noodles according to package directions.

Brown and drain 1½ pounds ground beef. Add 1 16oz can refried beans, 1 package taco seasoning and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper.

Coat a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Line pan with 3 noodles and spoon half meat/bean mixture over noodles. Top with 3 more noodles and remaining meat/bean mixture. Top with the last 3 noodles.

Pour 1 16oz can Pace salsa over all. Cover tightly and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. Remove from oven.

Spread 1½ cup sour cream, ½ cup sliced green onions, 1 cup sliced black olives and 1½ cup shredded monterrey jack cheese over all. Place under heated broiler until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Cool 10 minutes and serve. 

And enjoy!

I didn't think to take a photo until after we started eating this deliciousness so it may not look that tasty. I assure you it still is, bad photo aside. I would like it noted that I am wearing my southwesty t-shirt I bought at Target for $2 this week. I didn't even plan that. Awesome. Maybe I should always dress and cook in themes.

I added some corn to this batch and you could probably tweak it to add other things (Rotel, black beans, other healthy additives?!). It also freezes well if you just skip that last step.

One of the best parts about this recipe is that the leftovers are still very, very good. Your family will fight over these leftovers. Lactose intolerant people will take a dairy pill so they can finish it. I've seen it happen.

Here's an ingredient list for those of you that need to see it this way, too:

Ingredients
9 lasagna noodles
1½ pounds ground beef
1 16oz can refried beans
1 package taco seasoning
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 16oz can Pace salsa  (I use a black bean/white corn salsa, still tastes great)
1½ cup sour cream
½ cup sliced green onions
1 cup sliced black olives (I never add these... ewww)
1½ cup shredded monterrey jack cheese (I use a Mexican blend)

Now go, make someone happy and cook Southwest Lasagna this week. 

-Heather