Parental confession: My 12-year-old son Tyler is a die-hard carnivore.
I don’t know how this happened. We have vegetables at (most) every meal, and he eats an apple when I remind him, but he’d much rather have a cheeseburger or a steak. Refuses to eat salad and even shies away from baby carrots. So when I read Teresa Snow’s upcoming article on the flexitarian diet (in our Jan/Feb issue, out next week), I was reminded once again of my failure with his diet. Did we not introduce vegetables enough when he was a baby? Were we too lenient? Is he getting enough nutrients and vitamins? Will he ever eat green bean casserole or sweet potatoes?
Basically, the flexitarian diet is a call to eat better by eating more vegetables, less meat, without going completely vegetarian. Better for you, less calories – many benefits!
Inspired by the message in Teresa’s article, I fixed a veggie Mexican casserole for dinner this week. Okay – I served it with a side of tacos, doubting that the casserole would go over well with Tyler. I can’t bring myself to starve him with a cold-turkey move to meatless (actually, he’d eat the cold turkey if that is what we were having), so I have to hope that he consumed enough salsa with his tacos to count as a vegetable serving.
He didn’t eat the casserole, but I’m hopeful that exposure to the world of meatless dinners will eventually pay off.
– Jenny Bondurant
Chilaquiles Casserole – reminded me of a Mexican lasagna, with layers of corn tortillas, shredded zucchini, black beans, corn, cheese and enchilada sauce. My husband and I liked it, so I am sharing the recipe — Check out the Jan/Feb issue for more info and a meal plan for the flexitarian diet!
Chilaquiles Casserole
10 servings
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 1 medium zucchini, grated
* 1 19-ounce can black beans, rinsed
* 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
* 1 1/2 cups corn, frozen (thawed) or fresh
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 12 corn tortillas, quartered
* 1 19-ounce can mild red or green enchilada sauce
* 1 1/4 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in zucchini, beans, tomatoes, corn, cumin and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are heated through, about 3 minutes.
3. Scatter half the tortilla pieces in the pan. Top with half the vegetable mixture, half the enchilada sauce and half the cheese. Repeat with one more layer of tortillas, vegetables, sauce and cheese. Cover with foil.
4. Bake the casserole for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the casserole is bubbling around the edges and the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes more.
Tips & Notes
* Make Ahead Tip: Prepare through Step 3 and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
Nutrition
Per serving: 243 calories; 10 g fat ( 5 g sat , 4 g mono ); 23 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrates; 9 g protein; 5 g fiber; 338 mg sodium; 267 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (23% daily value), Fiber (22% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 1 1/2
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 lean meat, 1 fat
From: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chilaquiles_casserole.html
