TORTILLA CASSEROLE

Last night, we were in the mood for Mexican food and Spanish rice but wanted something a little more elaborate. We had corn tortillas, some left over vegie meats and some vegan cheese. Just the right
ingredients for a special casserole. It is a Mexican version of shepard's pie! Make sure to make extra, it keeps in the fridge for a few days and can be frozen.

Start with the Spanish rice:
You can make this rice dish in less than 30mn. It is simple to prepare and everyone will love it.


INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 onion, chopped fine
1 large garlic clove minced  
1/2 chopped green bell pepper or mild chiles
2 cups water with some vegetable broth (2 tsp powder or 1 cube)
2 cups of fresh tomatoes, or 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes or fresh salsa*
green chiles
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon salt

*note: if you use fresh salsa, do not add chili powder unless you like it spicy.

PREPARATION:

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat.
2. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is ligthly browned and onions are tender, stirring often. Lightly browning the rice prior to cooking it will create a nutty flavor to the rice and shorten the cooking time and make the rice fluffier.
3. Slowly add the water and broth, being careful not to splash yourself.
4. Add the fresh, canned tomatoes or tomatoe sauce. Season with chili, cumin powder and salt and stir to make sure that the spices are mixed in the rice.
5. Bring to boil then turn down to simmer immediately for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat.

Prepare the vegie meat mixture:
While the rice to simmering, start stir frying the vegie meat topping.
This is a great way to use up your left over dried protein or vegie 'meats'.

INGREDIENTS
Vegie meat: this can be 2 cups dry TVP seasoned (textured vegetable protein),
2 cups of vegie ground round,
2-3 boca burgers
1 medium chopped onion
1 large garlic clove minced

Layering the casserole:

1.  Preheat the over at 375F. Lightly spray a square baking dish.   
2. Place a layer of corn tortilla chips at the bottom. You can use chips or the larger round ones and break them.
3. Cover the chips with a layer of Spanish rice. Then add another layer of broken chips. Cover that with the vegie meat mixtures and sprinkle vegan cheese on top.
4. Bake at 375 for 40mn