Tamale Casserole

You would think I need breaks from eating Mexican food but somehow I just don't. I eat it entirely too often. There are days that I eat Willy's/Chipotle for lunch and then come home and make Mexican food for dinner and I DON'T GET SICK OF IT. So not surprisingly at all, I'm planning to make burrito bowls for dinner tonight after I made this tamale dish last night. It was good but I didn't feel like there was enough spice to the dish. I would try adding in some hotter peppers next time to give it a little more pizazz. Pizazz...is that a word people my age even use?

Tamale Casserole

So here's a blurry picture but you get the idea...

Ingredients:
 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 lb. grass-fed ground sirloin
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp. red chili powder
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a pot, boil 1 1/3 cups of water.  In a small bowl, mix the cornmeal with 1/2 cup of cold water and half the salt. Slowly add the mixture to the boiling water. Reduce heat to low and cook until thickened about 7-8 minutes.  While that is cooking, start making the beef mixture.

In a large pan, cook the onion, peppers, beef, and garlic until browned. If you aren't using grass-fed beef, drain fat. Stir the rest of the salt and the chili powder with this mixture.  Then, add the corn, tomatoes, tomato paste, and cilantro. Stir well.

Grease a 2- 2 1/2 qt baking dish with cooking spray. Spread the cornmeal mixture over the bottom. Next, add half of the cheese. Pour the beef mixture over the cheese layer.  Set the remaining cheese aside. Bake, uncovered for 20 minutes. Add the remaining cheese over the top and bake for an additional 5 minutes.