Mexican Lasagna

I made us lasagna that tastes like a chicken taco with spicy red sauce and fajita veggies mixed in.  

Also cheese.

How's your day?  Thanks a lot for all the advice you gave us about moving, we read it all and talked about it and LOVED all of your thoughts.  Today we're preparing for a massive trifecta of catering events we have coming up, and all the yoga is being taught so, you know, Wednesday.   

But let's talk about lasagna.  I'm giving you options here with your chicken, find some cooked chicken and shred it - rotisserie chicken or leftovers are PERFECT for this.  If you already have chicken cooked you just cook the veggies and layer this shiz and cook.  Thanks to no-boil lasagna noodles this can be in the oven in 30 minutes and ready less than an hour after that.  You can of course make this on a Sunday then bake it on a weeknight when you'd like to eat it, too.  It's delicious, healthy-ish, and sexyspicy as only Mexican food can be.  

Gather your stuff first.  Also, preheat the oven to whatever it says on the noodle box if you want to cook this right away, which you definitely do.  You need cheese (I did a mozz cheddar blend; use anything you've got around!), shredded cooked chicken, bell peppers, onion, cumin, chili powder, seasoning salt, lasagna noodles, tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, and hot sauce.  

First, we'll get started on the veggies.  Preheat a skillet to medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil, and cut the peppers in half, then rip out the seeds, stem, and ribs.  Don't do the thing where you cut pretty planks around the edge of the pepper and throw away the top and the bottom.  You're wasting half the pepper and that makes me sad in my heart where my feelings live.  

Then, cut the pepper into strips and chop it.  

Repeat with the onion.  You can use a whole onion if you'd like, but I had half of a massive onion that was more than enough.  As a side note, you could make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding any other veggies you like such as spinach, mushrooms, or zucchini.   Wouldn't THAT be totes yum.   

Add the peppers and onions to the skillet.  

Then, sprinkle the spices all over everything and give the veggies a stir. 

After about 4 minutes, the veggies should be slightly browned at the edges and softened.  Turn the heat off the skillet and let the veggies rest while you prepare to layer the lasagna.  

For the sauce, combine the tomato and enchilada sauces.  Taste, and add as much or as little hot sauce as you'd like.  

Grate the cheese if you haven't already.  

Now, we're ready to layer our lasagna.  Start with a thin layer of sauce in a baking dish.  

Then, layer noodles over the sauce.  

Cover the noodles with a little more sauce.  

Then make a thin layer of half the chicken chicken...

....a thin layer of half the veggies veggies, and a thin layer of ⅓ of the cheese.  

Top the cheese with more noodles, more sauce, the rest of the chicken and veggies, and more cheese.  THEN, top the whole shindig with a final layer of noodles, the rest of the sauce...

...and all of the remaining cheese.  

I did this in a 6x9 -ish baking dish, just slightly smaller than a 9x13.  If you only have a 9x13 baking dish you can use these measurements and just spread everything out for a slightly flatter lasagna, or you can increase the amount of veggies and chicken by about ⅓ and make a larger lasagna.  Up to you!  Now, we're ready to bake.  

Bake the lasagna for however long the noodle box says to - Mine took 45 minutes.  I baked this uncovered the entire time until the noodles were cooked through and the cheese was slightly browned.  Be sure to let the lasagna rest for at least 15 minutes after you take it out of the oven - it'll stay warm, don't worry!  

When you're ready to eat, grab a knife and a spatula and serve pretty pieces of this beauty.  

LOOK AT THE OOEY GOOEY.  That is the best part of a lasagna or most Mexican food, and we just made them have premarital sex and get knocked up at 16.  Worth it. 

This is so good you'll cry.  And I only say that because I spy someone in the back of this photo who looks like he might cry if I don't give him some of this RIGHT NOW.  (I didn't)

Make this soon, for a weekend, weeknight, lunch, whatevs.  The leftovers are epic, and you'll adore this.  

Enjoy!