Quesadilla Casserole with Collard Greens

I know, collard greens aren't the first side dish one thinks of with quesadillas, but it works surprisingly well. Laura and I mixed our childhoods a bit tonight with some good 'ol Tex Mex and down home southern dishes. The quesadilla casserole was a Rachel Ray recipe found online and the collard greens were prepared with liquid smoke, soy sauce and garlic from a recipe in Veganomicon.

We liked the casserole and will revisit it with a few tweaks in the future. One thing we both thought would be good was to add some tomatoes to each layer and maybe some diced jalapeno peppers to give it a little heat. Laura really like the greens, but I wasn't as thrilled with them. I didn't each them growing up, so I haven't developed a taste for them. I am told that I will be given plenty of chances in our life together to develop the appreciation of collard greens.

black beans, corn and parsley for the filling

 

sauteed onion and black beans squished into a paste

 

tortilla, paste, filling, cheese (repeat 4 times)

bake at 400 for 30 min (Cosby sweater optional)

careful, oven baked cast iron is HOT

top with green enchilada sauce

more pictures here