These are SO not traditional enchiladas at all; a true Southwesterner would laugh their ass off (oh, you know, their collective ass) at this recipe. That said, I've called these enchiladas for several years, although they should probably be called something like "a big, vegetarian, vaguely Mexican casserole thing" instead. They are fairly mild, but cheap, tasty, huge, and filling, and they contain elements of all four food groups to boot.

You need:

A casserole dish, approx. 9x13x2 inches.
A big bowl in which to mix everything.
1 cup rice, cooked.
1 can refried beans. The vegetarian or fat-free cans have no lard, so get one of those.
1 can black beans, or 2-3 cups dried beans soaked overnight and boiled if you are hardcore.
1 green and 1 red bell pepper.
1-2 spanish (yellow) onions.
2-3 roma tomatoes.
1-2 cans tomato sauce or puree.
some salsa.
lots of shredded cheddar cheese.
4-6 flour tortillas, depending on size.
Spices: cumin, garlic powder, adobo, cayenne pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. The temperature does not matter all that much, but I like to leave it low enough that things cook slowly and retain some moisture. So 350 degrees works for me.

Put the rice on and let it cook while you are preparing everything else. I like using really awful cheap white rice for this; it absorbs tomato nicely, sticks together in a pleasing way, and has no intrusive flavor. Avoid any specialty rices: don't use basmati rice if you can help it, for instance. Save that for a dish in which you can actually appreciate it.

While it's cooking, chop up your onions and peppers. You want them roughly the size of a fingernail, or a little smaller (I have pretty small fingernails, myself). Throw them in your big bowl, add the refried beans and the black beans (drained), and mix. Add a couple spoonfuls of salsa for mixability and hot pepper content. You could add actual chiles or hot peppers as well; I usually don't, but go ahead. Spice according to your tastes. I use lots of everything. Adobo, in case you were wondering, is just a Mexican spice mixture (not adobo sauce, although you could use that as well. A spice powder). If you can't find any, just add more cumin and garlic powder. You could also replace the garlic powder with actual minced garlic, if you so desire.

Hopefully, by the time you are done with all the chopping and mixing, the rice will be done. Now it's time for assembly. Get out your casserole dish and place 2-3 tortillas in it, enough to cover the bottom. You may have to rip one in half; this is fine. Over this, spread a layer of the bean mixture, then a layer of rice. Use about half of each. Over the rice, spread a layer or tomato sauce or puree. Chop up some tomatoes and add them to this layer as well. Grate enough cheese for a layer of cheese, and spread that on as well. Then start over with another tortilla layer, and make a second layer of everything. Your casserole dish should be pretty full by this point, but not overflowing, otherwise the cheese will melt all over your oven.

Stick the pan in the oven, uncovered, and bake. These things take at least a half hour to heat through, at least in a pyrex dish; I would recommend leaving them in for 45 minutes or so. You will get very impatient with them; stay calm. These are better the longer and slower they are cooked. If you can stand to turn the temperature down to 325, and leave them in longer, so much the better for your taste buds. Otherwise, take them out when you are desperate for food and the cheese has bubbled and browned nicely.

Eat. These are good with a light beer (read Hefeweizen or IPA, not Bud), or a huge glass of Coke with ice. Yay!

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