The Peanut Butter Boy: Mexican Tortilla Pie

Here's a great quick and easy recipe made mostly from cans! If you wish, you can omit the sour cream, red pepper and chives (the tortillas and unopened bag of cheese will stay good for a while in the fridge) and have this recipe on hand for a rainy night. I realize it doesn't contain peanut butter (yet) but it sure is delicious (the family and E agree). Like all my Mexican-inspired dishes, the same basic ingredients are simply rehashed into a different form.

There will be a good amount of leftover filling. You can either stack the pie higher or make a second pie. What I did was use the extra filling for enchiladas, a simple recipe I'll be divulging soon.

Ingredients:

4 (8") low-carb whole wheat tortillas (Mission Carb Balance fajita size)
1 can no-fat refried beans, spicy preferred
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1/2 jar salsa (as needed)
2 (10oz) cans chicken or turkey breast, broken-up into shreds
1-2 cups frozen sweet corn (to liking)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream, stirred until creamy
2 cups fat-free shredded cheddar cheese
1 (4oz) can sliced black olives (optional)
3T chopped chives (optional)
1.5T cumin
1T chili powder
dash salt/pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large pot over medium heat, mix together refried beans, black beans, pinto beans, corn, red pepper and the chicken/turkey. Add the cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, cayenne (if using) and a few tablespoons of salsa.

2. Find a deep 9" pie dish or 9x13 baking dish and spray with cooking spray. Place one tortilla into the dish.

3. While the mixture is being heated, it will begin to thin out. You want the heated mixture to remain fairly thick, so only add more salsa as needed. If the mixture is too thin, it will creep out the sides (mine did a bit).

4. Once the mixture is heated through, plop it onto the first tortilla about 1/2"-3/4" thick and about a 1/4" from the edges. Use about 2T sour cream to spread a thin layer on top of the mixture. Next, sprinkle about 1/2 cup cheese on top. Place another tortilla on the top and repeat, making three full layers.

5. Top with the 4th tortilla. Cover the whole pie with the rest of the salsa (extra is fine). Sprinkle with chives and place olives on top. Cover with the remaining cheese.

6. Cover with tin foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Slice like a pie and indulge. Freezes well.

Additional Info:

I used a spicy green salsa that happened to be very thin, which caused the pie to leak into the dish a little bit. Hot sauce and extra sour cream go great on top.

A note for the tortillas: I do no promote the low-carb diet as it also suggests that bacon is "healthy" because it is low in carbs. However, in many cases low-carb products have a significant health benefit over their traditional counterparts. In order to make these tortillas low-carb, the manufacturer has included extra fiber and used protein to replace some of carbohydrates. In addition, these are some of the softest tortillas I have ever had. Other brands of low-carb tortillas break easily and can be very dry but the Mission Carb Balance tortillas are incredible. They also have a white flour version which is equally as good, just not whole grain. Look for them wherever regular tortillas are found in your grocery store which is sometimes located in the refrigerated section.

I'll cover this again when I post about nutrition in general soon.

Labels: dinner, fiber, mexican, peanut butterless, protein