Mexican Cornbread Casserole

This recipe is adapted from the Cornbread Tamale Pie recipe in Joy of Cooking. I made several tweaks, and really don't understand why it was called "tamale" or "pie" to begin with because I've never had a tamale that had vegetables or beans in it, and this wasn't a pie at all. It was a casserole of deliciousness.

I increased the quantities of some ingredients, due to what we had on hand and due to the fact that I started purchasing the majority of our groceries at Aldi's and there are some items either not available there, or available only in large quantities.

Don't let the long ingredient list scare you; it is packed with veggies.

Mexican Cornbread Casserole
1-2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
15 oz. can corn, drained
28 oz. can pinto beans, drained
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup beef or chicken broth (I used bouillon)
2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix, prepared per package instructions (so you need 2/3 c milk and 2 eggs)
4 oz. can green chilies, or several fresh jalapenos seeded and diced
1/2 c. shredded cheddar

After browning and draining the beef, add the onion and pepper and saute until veggies are tender. Use a large skillet. You may need to add back in some of the fat or some oil to keep the veggies from sticking.

Once the veggies are tender, mix in the corn, beans, tomato sauce, spices and broth. Simmer for a couple minutes until the kitchen smells so good you are starving.

Meanwhile, prepare the Jiffy mix and add the green chilies and cheddar.

Spray the bottom and sides of a 3 quart casserole dish (a 9x13 is 3 quarts!). Pour half of the Jiffy mix in the bottom of the pan. Pour the beef/veggie mixture on top, then cover with the remaining Jiffy mix.

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, or until the cornbread is golden.

This is another one of those recipes that I ended up taking out of the oven early; I'm pretty sure our oven gets too hot. I'll be in the market for an oven thermometer that hangs on the oven shelf this weekend...

The Hubs and I enjoyed our casserole with some extra cheddar, sour cream and Sriracha sauce.

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