SPINACH, Oh How I Love You

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I was ecstatic that we received spinach in our baskets this week.  I adore spinach and throw handfuls of it into all kinds of dishes; smoothies, eggs, omelettes, spaghetti sauce, quesadillas, but this week I used our spinach to make one of my favorite dishes.  Technically it's called Mexican Lasagna, but when I first received this recipe I could never remember it's name and we just referred to it as Mexican Whatever and that stuck.  I found this recipe on CuisineNie plus many, many other recipes we love to make. 

Grab that spinach and let's get started...

Mexican Lasagna
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
Nonstick cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (15.5 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup prepared salsa (mild or medium)
8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, grated (about 2 cups) (I only use 1 cup)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a food processor, combine cilantro, scallions, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper with as much spinach as will fit; pulse, adding remaining spinach in batches, until coarsely chopped.

Coat an 8-inch square baking dish (I use whatever dish is handy) with cooking spray. Lay 4 tortillas in bottom of dish (they will overlap slightly). Layer with half of beans, salsa, spinach mixture, and cheese; repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with cheese and pressing in gently.

Cover dish with foil and bake until bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes; remove foil, and continue baking until golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

**My husband doesn't think this is spicy but I do.  If you don't tolerate spice well, definitely use the mild salsa and use half pepper jack cheese with half Monterrey jack.  I have done that before and it does produce a milder flavor, but still just as delicious!


BTW--if you haven't noticed, my family could eat some sort of Mexican dish every night of the week.  Y-U-M!!!