I firmly believe in child labor- especially in the kitchen. The kid that helps to make dinner is far more inclined to actually eat it too. This lasagna dish goes together quickly with ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and freezer. I’ll often make two at a time and drop one off to a friend in need of a break from making dinner.
From Cooking Light (again, I know, I love their recipes) comes Tex Mex Lasagna. Very few tweaks on my end- I use the frozen roasted corn (and don’t bother thawing it) and the no-boil noodles from Trader Joe’s. Some of the recipe reviews call for using corn tortillas instead. Maybe one day I’ll try that too.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup bottled salsa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt-added diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can no salt-added tomato sauce
- Cooking spray
- 6 precooked lasagna noodles
- 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups (8 ounces) pre-shredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 450°.
Lots of tasks for little hands.
- Combine first 4 ingredients; spread 2/3 cup sauce in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; top with 1/2 cup corn and half of beans. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese; top with 2/3 cup sauce. Repeat layers once; top with remaining 2 noodles. Spread remaining sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.
Luke Skywalker here enjoyed wielding a spatula in place of the usual light saber.
Layering the lasagna correctly involves reading AND paying attention to the directions- good practice for a Jedi.
No-boil noodles are key to putting this together quickly.
- Cover and bake at 450° for 30 minutes or until noodles are tender and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes. Sprinkle with onions.
Dinner in under an hour. You can also assemble it a day or so ahead and pop it in the oven to bake while you make a salad.
Served with cornbread, Spanish rice and tortilla chips & guacamole. Leftovers are rare.
