Mexican Lasagna

About a year ago, my husband was attending school a few nights a week and I was left to figure out dinner for the family all on my own.

Having about 3 years of real cooking under my belt at that point, I started to branch out and "create" recipes, rather than "follow" them.

The clear winner was the Mexican Lasagna, which I will be making for the family tonight.  It's very simple, but takes a bit of time to assemble.  It can be made ahead and frozen - just remember to thaw it a few hours before you bake it.

One 9x13 pan will feed our family of 5... so I guess it's probably 15 servings or so :-)

• 1 jar of Target brand Archer Farms(TM) Chili Verde Cooking Sauce
• 1 package of Target brand Archer Farms(TM) Whole Wheat Tortillas (you can use any tortillas, but these have a wonderful, sweet flavor, and they really DO make a difference)
• 1 can Green Enchilada sauce - any brand
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 can of sweet corn, drained - any brand
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed - any brand
• 1 can of diced green chiles, drained - any brand
• 1 bunch of cilantro, leaves picked and chopped
• 1 bunch of green/spring onions, sliced
• 4 cups of shredded taco or mexican blend cheese
• Crystal Farms(TM) Chipotle Cheddar cheese - found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store by the other brick cheeses *
• 4 diced Roma tomatoes, for garnish
• 1 head of lettuce, shredded / 1 bag of shredded lettuce
• salsa, for garnish
• sour cream, for garnish

1. In a slow cooker, place the chicken breasts, Archer Farms(TM) Chile Verde sauce and Enchilada sauce.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3 to 4 hours.
2. When chicken is cooked through and tender, remove from sauce and shred on a platter.  This can be done using 2 forks.  Reserve sauce from the slow cooker - you will use it in the lasagna.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
4. Coat the bottom and sides of a deep, 9"x13" baking pan with a few small ladles-full of sauce from the slow cooker
5. Place 2 whole what tortillas in the bottom of the pan, trimming if necessary
6. Top with 1/3 of the shredded chicken, then layer on 1/3 of the black beans, corn, cilantro, green onions and green chiles
7. Next, spoon on 1/3 of the sauce from the slow cooker, and top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese
8. Top with 2 more tortillas and repeat the process, layering as you would a regular lasagna
9. Finish the process with a layer of cheese on top.
10. *If you found the Chipotle Cheddar cheese, use this on the top of the lasagna, in addition to the mexican/taco cheese you used throughout the other layers.  This smoky cheese has great flavor!
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes
12. Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes before slicing
13. Serve with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream and salsa