TACO CORNBREAD CASSEROLE

This is a quick, easy recipe that you can make even if you don't have any thawed meat.  I forgot to take any meat out of the freezer for dinner so that limited my choices to ground meat or boiling chicken breasts.  I decided to make an old favorite, Taco Cornbread Casserole with ground turkey.  I also realized I had two recipes that were very similar so I combined the two and just noted a couple of variations.  The great thing about this dish besides what I mentioned is that most of it is canned goods and staples.  This time when I made it I didn't have black olives but it doesn't matter, the second picture is when I had black olives but I didn't add the kidney beans.  Make any of the variations I've listed below or omit or add things you like to make it your own.

TACO CORNBREAD CASSEROLE
Fry:
1 lb. lean ground beef1 onion (1 C.), chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

Add:

¾ C. Ortega thick n chunky salsa

1 pkg. (1.25 oz.) taco seasoning mix

¼ C. water

Add:

16 oz. can corn, drained

1 (15 ¼ oz.) can kidney beans, drained, rinsed

½ C. (2 ¼ oz. can) black olives, sliced

Cornbread topping, mix:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 egg

⅓ C. milk

1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded

4 oz. can diced Ortega green chilies, drained

3 green onions, sliced thin

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook beef, onion and bell pepper. Drain off grease if you didn’t use lean beef or turkey. Stir in salsa, seasoning mix and water. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in corn, kidney beans and olives. Spoon into 13x9-inch square baking dish. Mix muffin mix, egg and milk in a medium bowl. Stir in cheese, chilies and green onions. Spread over meat mixture. Bake for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and a knife inserted into cornbread comes out clean.

 

Note: I have tried using Polenta on the bottom and top. It was OK on the top but I didn’t like it on the bottom because it is not firm enough. Cornmeal is the best option.

 

Variations:

• No Taco seasoning mix: Use 1 ½ t. cumin, 1 ½ t. chili powder and 1 ½ t. sugar instead of the taco seasoning mix.
• No salsa:Use 16 oz. tomato sauce + 3 t. chili powder + 1 clove garlic, minced + 1 T. sugar
• Tamale Pie: Don’t have a box of corn muffin mix then make your own: ¾ C. cornmeal, ½ t. salt, 2 C. cold water, ¼ C. margarine. Stir cornmeal, salt and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until very thick. Add margarine. Stir cheese into meat mixture. Spoon cornmeal mix over meat mixture. Bake at 375°F for 40 minutes.
• Spicier Meat: In place of the Ortega salsa use a 7 oz. can of San Marcos chipolte salsa.
• Use ground turkey instead of lean ground beef.