Crock Pot Mexican Lasagna

This was delicious! It is certainly a meal that gets better with time too. Left overs the next day were fabulous! I tweaked this recipe quite a bit to fit our own tastes and amp up the nutrition factor. I will warn you, this requires a little more work then most crock pot recipes. So, here goes!

Ingredients:
12 corn tortillas
4 cups of thick and chunky "salsa" (I'll explain the quotations later)
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 lb ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1 egg
1 cup finely diced carrot
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 can of black beans drained
2 cups of Mexican cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Alright, here we go! So, start by heating 1 tsp of your oil in a pan and toss in the onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Add your turkey and cook until browned. Drain, return to pan and add cumin, chili powder and salt. Set aside to cool. Heat the other tsp of oil and when hot add carrot and celery to saute until soft. Add to the turkey mixture to cool.

In a separate bowl, add sour cream and egg and whisk together. Stir in cilantro, beans and corn. Add turkey/vegetable mixture once it has cooled.

Now, I say "salsa" because I thought 4 cups of straight salsa would be too much spice for my family. What I did to lower the heat level was grab a can of diced tomatoes (undrained) and measure that out plus salsa to equal 4 cups. Make sense? Basically the can of tomatoes was about 1.5 cups so I added 2.5 cups of salsa and mixed it all together. Feel free to make life easier and add some "heat" by using straight salsa.

Alright, now that the salsa has been explained, here we go! If you are using a round crock pot, you will get three layers. If you are using an oval crock pot that has a larger diameter then that of a round one, you will have to adjust these measurements as you will probably only get 2 layers.

Spray your crock pot with non-stick spray. Add a cup of salsa to the bottom. Layer with 3 tortillas. It will be necessary to cut them to be sure there is a full layer. It's okay to overlap but you don't want empty space. Now spread 1/3 of your turkey and veggie mixture over the tortillas. Layer with 1/2 cup of cheese and one more cup of salsa. Repeat these layers 2 more times. On the last layer, do not spread salsa on the cheese. Rather lay the rest of your tortillas on top and then spread the last cup of salsa and the last 1/2 cup of cheese.

Now, cook on low for 3-4 hours. You do not want to cook this on high as it will simply burn the edges. I say 3-4 hours because crock pots will vary. You want your tortillas to be to the point of falling apart, kind of mush, not just 'soft". Trust me, I tried it with them just soft and it was NOT the same!

A always, PLEASE let me know if you try this recipe! I love to hear how other enjoyed it too!