Shepherd's Salad

This is a Turkish recipe called Shepherd's salad. It is very refreshing.

2 medium tomatoes, chopped in tiny pieces
1 cucumber peeled, chopped in tiny pieces
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 fresh mild banana pepper or other mild pepper, seeded and chopped
Optional: chopped green onions
Toss veggies together. Drizzle liberally with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole

I believe that I got this recipe from a package of Market Pantry shredded cheese from Target. It is delicious, filling, and pretty easy. The hardest part for me is to find a can of enchilada sauce that is gluten free. I just found a 28 oz can of Las Palmas Enchilada Sauce at SuperTarget that does not contain any gluten. I used to think that red enchilada sauce was made of mainly tomato sauce, but surprisingly it contains none. It is mostly ground red chilies which gives it a rich peppery flavor. Here's the recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 can (7 oz) diced green chilies
2 cans (10 oz each) red enchilada sauce
1 pkg (10 oz) yellow corn tortillas (12 tortillas), cut in half
3 cups shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef. Add chilies and 1 can sauce. Layer in a 9 x 13 pan as described:

1. Spread 1/2 can of sauce on bottom of pan.
2. Arrange 8 tortilla halves to cover.
3. Add 1/2 of meat mixture.
4. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese.
Repeat layers 2-4.
Finish with a final layer of tortillas and the remaining half can of sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes covered with foil until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese and bake 5 minutes longer until melted. I like to finish it for a minute under the broiler to brown the cheese! Allow to cool a couple minutes before serving. Serve with generous spoonfuls of sour cream.