Patti Wagon: Go-To Lunch: Mexican Lasagna

Look for some posts about my go-to lunches in the coming weeks. I'm not ready to give you all of them right now. I'm going to make you wait for them. ~~Because I haven't written them yet.~~ Because that way you'll appreciate them more.

Remember this post? I made a Mexican-style pork butt and froze the leftovers for other uses. Well, here's another use. I make one (or in this case, two) of these casseroles every so often, then freeze it in pre-portioned servings to take to school for lunch when I'm racing the clock. And yes, that happens 95% of the time, so during the school year, I go through these rather quickly.

This does involve some prep work and assembly, but it's so worth it to have a frozen meal, in which you can name every ingredient.

What you'll need for one casserole:

About 2 cups of the frozen pork, thawed, then quickly heated in canola oil. Add about 1/2 cup of pickled jalapenos.
This corn mixed with these caramelized onions. This is a favorite, if you haven't noticed. So delicious. So versatile.
Two cans of pinto beans (or red or kidney, whatever you have on hand), drained and mostly rinsed, then heated up on the stove with some water and Mexican spices added. I like a lot of cumin and oregano, then a bit of garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper.
One block of queso fresco
One package of shredded colby jack cheese
One package of small flour tortillas. Note: I've tried this with corn tortillas, and the flavor is good, but they end up disintegrating and becoming a bit pasty. And no one likes paste.
One can of green chile enchilada sauce (I use Las Palmas.)

The assembly:

Set up an area in your kitchen like this, so it goes faster.
Pour a bit of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of your pan.
Then dip several tortillas in the enchilada sauce and place them in the pan.
Alternate layers of pork, corn and onions, and beans, and always end with a layer of both cheeses before the next tortilla layer. Dip the tortillas in the enchilada sauce before commencing the next layer.
End with a layer of tortillas and top with a hefty amount of both cheeses.
Bake it at 350 for about 30 minutes. You could feed a crowd right away, or let it cool in the refrigerator, portion it, and freeze it in zip-loc bags.