Easy Beef Enchiladas

About five months after we went to the beach last year, I got a couple of emails saying, "Hey, you haven't posted the beach-meal recipes yet. Are they coming?"

About two weeks before we went to the beach THIS year, I got a couple of emails saying, "Hey, you never posted the recipes from last year. Sure did miss those. You gonna post this year's?"

I COULD write something about this search engine named Google and how it's a great way to find new recipes. BUT I WILL NOT DO THAT, SUSAN. I understand that you want recipes that Real People have eaten and enjoyed. Recipes that we shopped for the ingredients for in a God-forsaken country Wal-Mart at midnight on a summer Saturday night and lived to tell the tale, prepared in four aluminum-foil pans so we could serve 30 people at one time, and the majority of the crowd (the ones over 11 years old, at a minimum), really enjoyed the results.

I LIVE TO SERVE, INTERNET, I live to serve.

Kim made this Recipe Girl dish last year and it went over so well with everyone that she made it again this year. The kids loved it, EVEN THOUGH IT HAS ZUCCHINI IN IT. Yep. It's that delicious.

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups (about 2 medium) finely diced zucchini
1 1/2 cups black beans (** this is Kim's addition to the recipe)
12 corn tortillas, heated or fried in oil to soften
2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned or homemade  (Kim makes the homemade sauce so that's the only one I can vouch for and it's amazing but that's more work so you be you)
3 cups cheddar- jack shredded cheese 

Serve as desired with: shredded lettuce, avocado, cilantro*, sour cream

*I hate cilantro and advise reasonable people to LEAVE IT OUT of ALL recipes. It is Satan's garnish.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add ground beef; break apart with a spoon or spatula to crumble the meat. Saute the meat on medium heat until browned (about 5 minutes). Tilt the pan and spoon the fat out of the pan; discard. Remove cooked meat to a bowl.
3. Return pan to medium heat and add onion and zucchini. Saute until just softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan and add to the meat mixture; set aside.
4. Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the prepared pan. Spread it around so it coats the entire bottom of the pan. 
5. Assemble the enchiladas: Place tortilla on a work surface. Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture down the middle. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of cheese on top of the meat. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of sauce on top. Wrap the tortilla around the filling tightly and place it seam-side-down in the pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling until you have finished filling 12 tortillas. Place the tortillas side-by-side in the pan- it's okay if they are all snuggled in there tightly.
6. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the stuffed enchiladas. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove pan from the oven and take off the foil. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top; return to the oven and let the cheese melt (about 5 minutes).
8. Serve immediately with desired condiments.