Tamale Casserole

My beautiful friend just had a baby (her second beautiful little girl) and I offered to bring them dinner so they can spend as much time being parents as possible. I asked if there were any food preferences/dislikes/allergies etc and was told there were none. Of course a one dish meal (casserole) is ideal so there's not a lot of storage space needed. I've made this casserole many times and it is SO good. It's very easy to make this low-fat by subsituting chicken for beef, egg substitute for an egg, etc.

You really can customize this however you like, but I will post the recipe I used and a link to the others I've found.

Tamale Casserole #1 
Tamale Casserole # 2 - Cooking Light

Tamale Casserole

Serves 8-12 

 

Ingredients

 

8 oz shredded cheese (I used a Monterey jack)

1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (Jiffy works great)
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
1 pound ground beef (turkey or chicken work just as well)
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine the cheeses in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of the combined cheese, the milk, egg, cumin, red pepper, corn, muffin mix, and the green chiles. Stir until just combined.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes or until just set.

While the cornbread is baking, cook your ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until cooked completely through. Drain, if necessary, and salt and pepper the beef.

Remove the cornbread from the oven and pierce all over with a fork.

Pour the enchilada sauce over the corn bread.

Top with the beans, beef and remaining cheese.

Return to the oven for another 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro or parsley if desired and serve.