MACRO-FRIENDLY RECIPE: SPICY MEXICAN CASSEROLE
Last week was our annual KLN Coach’s Retreat and it was amazing. We all met in Oaxaca, Mexico, (where Kate and Kenny live) and spent five days together as a team for the first time ever! (We missed you, Coach Teisa and Coach Kimberly!) While we still did some work, we spent most of the week being active and eating our way through the lovely city of Oaxaca. Oaxaca is known for its Mole (MO-lay) dishes, which use the traditional sauce as a main ingredient. You’ll find different varieties of mole throughout the area, all of them using a unique combination of dried chiles, nuts, seeds, and oftentimes chocolate - needless to say, every kind that we tried was so good! So, this month’s recipe just had to be inspired by our recent trip and is an attempt to bring some of the flavors of Oaxaca to you in an easy to make, macro-friendly recipe that you can add to your meal prep rotation. Enjoy!
SPICY MEXICAN CASSEROLE
PREP TIME: 10 minutes | COOK TIME: 45 minutes | MAKES: 6 servings
WHAT YOU NEED:
16 oz. 96/4 lean ground beef, weighed raw
1 can Tri-bean blend, drained and rinsed
340g Cauliflower rice, we used 1 frozen bag from Kroger, but can be fresh
340g Three pepper and onion blend, we used 1 frozen bag from Kroger, but can be fresh
50g Kale, chopped
10g fresh chopped jalapenos
8 Mission corn tortillas
1 jar Private Selection Mole Negro sauce*
84g Shredded mexican blend cheese
180g Plain nonfat Greek yogurt
½ T Cumin
½ t Cayenne pepper
1t Garlic powder
1t Onion powder
½ t Salt
Chopped green onions + cilantro for garnish
*NOTES: For our recipe, we used a canned molé sauce from Kroger, but you could use a premade enchilada sauce instead if that fits your preferences better.
WHAT TO DO:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13” baking dish with cooking oil spray.
In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and season with cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder and salt (you can also use 1 ½ T of your favorite taco seasoning) and drain off any excess fat or liquid. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the beans, cauliflower rice, pepper and onion mix, kale and chopped jalapenos. If using frozen cauliflower rice and pepper/onion mix, break it up using a spoon or your hands so there are no big chunks before adding to the mixing bowl.
Using a large spoon or your hands, mix everything until well-combined.
Spoon half of the veggie mixture into the baking dish and flatten using a spatula.
Layer corn tortillas over top of the mixture and cover with half of the sauce. Layer beef over top of the sauce covered tortillas. Layer remaining veggie mixture over top of the beef and cover with the rest of the sauce.
Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with shredded cheese. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Portion into six servings, garnishing each with 30g of Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of green onions and cilantro.
MACROS PER SERVING: 31P/12F/43C, 399 calories
You can find the recipe in the MyFitnessPal database by searching:
“KLN Recipe: Spicy Mexican Casserole”.
For more easy, macro-friendly recipes like this one, be sure to download our free meal prep cookbook, Everyday Macros. It’s full of batch recipes and meal ideas for your whole week! These other macro-friendly recipes are also great for easy meal prep: