This little "cookbook" is handmade from my college roommate, Karen, circa May 1993. I still cook from it!
Last week during one of my posts I mentioned a cookbook that my college roommate, Karen had made me before we graduated URI back in 1993. Despite all our moves from state to state, apartments to house, that little booklet has traveled with me and several of our regular recipes have come from it. However, there’s so many in there that I haven’t made in years. Recently I pulled it out again, as I was specifically looking for a recipe for dinner that we hadn’t made in years, probably since before we had kids. It was a huge hit, so I thought I should share it here.
My family all like Mexican food but I was getting a little tired of our alternating meals: tacos and quesadillas (even though they weren’t at all tired of them and could probably eat tacos and quesadillas day after day, I could not.) I decided to give Karen’s Taco Bake a try. It got four thumbs up. (And a thumbs down from Alex who said, “But I really liked the tomatoes Mom.”)
You don't need a ton of ingredients for this recipe and I had everything on hand even though I hadn't planned it in advance.
This recipe is all the things I like: quick and easy, one pan, and budget friendly. I had a pack of ground turkey in the fridge and everything else on hand in the house already.
KAREN’S TACO BAKE
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. Grd. Turkey or Beef
1 12 oz. jar of salsa (I had a 24 oz. jar, with about half left so I just dumped it all in.)
1 cup corn (drained if canned, mine is frozen)
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tbl. Chili Powder
2 cups crushed tortilla chips (I didn’t measure, but I put about half a bag into a ziploc and crushed them.)
2 cups Montery Jack Cheese (I used a block of cheddar)
I love how it first looks when you throw it all together.
DIRECTIONS
Brown and drain meat.
Stir in salsa, corn, mayo and chili powder.
Layer 1/2 meat, cheese and chips in a 2 qt casserole (I used a 11×7 baking dish)
Repeat so that cheese is on top of chips.
Bake 20-25 minutes until cheese is lightly crisp.
Top with shredded lettuce, tomato and sour cream.
My kids were so excited for this new meal, they couldn't wait to try it out.
Put it in a flour tortilla and wrap it up!
Now you could serve it on a plate as is, or as my kids like to do, you could throw it into a soft taco and wrap it up, with all the fixins’ and eat it that way. We had a little of both at our house; some on a plate and some in wraps. Either way….delicious.
So there you have it….another one of Karen’s famous recipes from my college years.
Enjoy!
