This is a great casserole to make ahead of time. My family ate it for dinner and then the leftovers for lunch the next day. You can use a store-bought salsa verde or make your own with tomatillos or green tomatoes. You can also substitute other vegetables you may have on hand like spinach, broccoli, yellow squash, butternut squash, etc… Adjust your seasonings as you like. You could use chili powder as well if you like or add in more hot pepper if you like it spicy. Experiment. Double the recipe to make a huge casserole to last you for a few days.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, minced

3 small zucchini, diced

3/4 cup frozen or fresh corn

1 red pepper, diced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup cilantro, minced

3 cups salsa verde

2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced

cumin

smoked paprika

sea salt, to taste

12 corn tortillas

2 cups grated pepper jack cheese or a mexican blend

Garnish:

chopped cilantro

diced avocado

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Set a large skillet over medium high heat and add in the olive oil. When hot, saute the onion until translucent. Add in the zucchini, corn and pepper and saute until vegetables are tender. Season with some cumin, smoked paprika and salt while sauteeing. Transfer vegetables to a large bowl and add black beans, cilantro, cottage cheese, 1/4 cup salsa, chipotle peppers with a little of the adobo sauce, more cumin, paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine well.
3. In a baking dish (I used an 8×11 oval dish or you can use a 9×9, as long as it is deep enought to hold the layers), add a 1/2 cup of salsa and spread out on the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Cover the bottom of the pan with one layer of tortillas, I used three per layer. Then layer, 1/3 of the veggie mixture, 1/2 cup salsa, and 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Repeat this layering two more times. End with a final layer of tortillas, salsa and cheese.
4. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes until hot in the center and bubbly around the edges.  Remove the foil, turn on the broiler and broil for a few minutes to lightly brown the cheese. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve topped with cilantro and avocado pieces.