So there i was with a freshly picked cauliflower and some thawed ground beef looking for inspiration, and I found myself drawn more to the tex-mex casseroles, but diet culture has completely messed up recipe searching because it was very difficult to give recipes that included cauliflower and rice, but not ‘rice’ made out of cauliflower (which is great sometimes, but not what I was looking for.
So I ended up winging it and adding extra carbs out of spite (and deliciousness) and then ended up not having room to add the cauliflower.
I started with a personal size ceramic pot and opened up a can of diced tomatoes and mixed some with #penzeys Southwest seasoning. I put some on the bottom of the dish, added a small flour tortilla, and added more tomato to thoroughly wet the tortilla
Then I added a layer of refried beans (from a can) and some cheese. I mixed together some leftover rice, hot sauce, and more of the tomatoes
Over a layer of the rice mixture, I added another tomato-ed tortilla
I cooked together a quarter pound of ground beef, fixed onion, a diced poblano pepper, some diced bell pepper, and some mixed garlic.
I added a generous amount of Southwest seasoning and a little (1/4 cup?) alfredo sauce from a jar.
On top of the layer of the beef mixture, I added a little more refried beans.
And then I added a top layer of a tomato-ed tortilla and covered it with cheese. And baked it in a 350F oven for 20 minutes. I did not bother with broiler time to brown the cheese, but one could.
when it came out I topped it with a little parsley. It was warm through but would have be enough even better if I’d left it to heat longer. But it was delicious enough that, again, I didn’t bother. And you can see the pretty layers as I cut into it.
Overall – very pleasing!