Tacos & Beans

A few weeks ago I tried a recipe (from Cook's Country, I think) for tacos with refried beans.  It was kind of odd because you set the hard tacos on a bed of refried beans to bake.  With concern that the bottoms would get soggy, I tried it anyway.  The bottoms of the tacos were soggy, but the flavor was good.  So I figured it could be just as good baked in two dishes, one for the beans and one for the tacos.  That method worked much better.  For one can of tomatoes & chilies, I prefer to make 2 lbs ground beef although you only need one lb for this application.  I just put the rest in the freezer to pull out another day.

Tacos with Refried Beans

2 lbs. lean ground beef

1 onion, diced

2 cans tomatoes & chilies (Ro-tel tomatoes)

2 pkg. taco seasoning

1 can refried beans

2 cups shredded cheese (I used pre-shredded Fiesta blend)

12 hard taco shells

Preheat oven to 375.  While the oven heats, combine refried beans and 1 can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained slightly with liquid reserved for the meat.  Put bean mixture into a small casserole dish and top with cheese (I used probably 2/3 cup or so).

In a skillet, cook the ground beef with the diced onion until the meat is no longer pink.  Drain fat if necessary.  Add taco seasoning, the remaining can of tomatoes and reserved juice, and 1/2 cup water.  Cook uncovered until the sauce has thickened (10 min.)

Put the beans in the oven while stuffing the tacos.

When the sauce has thickened, stuff each taco shell with meat mixture and cheese.  Save remaining meet mixture for another use.  Put the tacos in another casserole dish and bake until the cheese has melted (10 min. or so).

We like to serve these with shredded lettuce, taco sauce, salsa, green onions, and sour cream.  Serve the beans as a side dish with tortilla chips or put some right on your taco.  Enjoy!