Eco-friendly living is becoming increasingly popular and joining the Meatless Monday movement is an excellent way of kicking it up a notch (if you don’t already generally avoid eating meat). Meatless Monday is a program where you commit to abstaining from eating meat on day a week (preferably Monday…hence the name).  For those with children, making a change like this and explaining the reasons why, is the first step in teaching your kids about eco-responsibility. That being said, you need to find recipes that are easy to prepare, simple and nutritious yet still taste great to win them over. So here is a quesadilla casserole that came by way of Rachel Ray’s Yum-o organization.  For those that haven’t heard, “launched in 2006 by Rachael Ray, Yum-o!® is a nonprofit organization that empowers kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking by teaching families to cook, feeding hungry kids and funding cooking education and scholarships.”

INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup organic onion, chopped
1 can black beans (29 ounces), drained, 1/2 cup liquid reserved, divided
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 cup flat leaf organic parsley, chopped
5 10-inch flour tortillas
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1-cup store-bought green enchilada sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat the oven to 400?F.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add half of the beans and mash into a chunky paste. Stir in the reserved liquid.

Grease a heavy, ovenproof skillet. In a bowl, combine the corn, parsley and remaining black beans. Place a tortilla in the skillet and spread with 1/3 cup of the mashed black bean mixture. Top with 2/3 cup of the corn-bean mixture and 1/2 cup cheese. Press to compress the layers. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, mashed black beans, corn-bean mixture and cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through, about 30 minutes. Transfer to the broiler and cook for 1 minute. Serve with the enchilada sauce.

This quesadilla casserole is an easy introduction to meatless eating for kids, as most enjoy Mexican flavors. Making this recipe is a healthy way to obtain that great quesadilla taste without the added fat of meat. This is a meal that can be made beforehand and just heated in time for dinner, making it easy for you to adapt to this new way of cooking. Enjoy!

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