Vegetarian taco skillet meets cornbread pie

Cornbread pie makes a regular appearance at our house: it’s easy, good, and I almost always have the ingredients laying around, making it good for those “ack, what to do for dinner!” moments. Recently, I decided to shake things up a bit. I had tried a taco skillet recipe that was only mediocre. I thought I’d meld the two recipes (taco skillet and cornbread pie) together to see what would happen. I think we have a winner!

As with many of my inventions, I just sort of use what I have. If you are missing something, don’t sweat it, just find something else to throw in in it’s place. Well, the cornbread is necessary, but the rest can be fiddled with=)

What you need:
1T olive oil
1 package Grillers, cut into small pieces
some frozen corn
some spinach, cut up (fresh or frozen)
mushrooms, chopped
about 1/2 bell pepper, diced (red or orange are nice, but pricey, so use what you have.)
1 onion, diced
1 Goya packet (the magic ingredient, don’t skip this one)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 package of cornbread mix
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (or whatever your cornbread mix calls for)
1/3 – 1 cup of cheese (I like cheddar)

How to put it all together:
1. Heat oil a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Grillers and all of the veggies (corn through onion) and cook until the corn is no longer frozen and the onions are nicely sauteed, about 6-10 minutes.

2. While that is cooking, prepare the cornbread mix. Combine the cornbread, egg and milk and stir until well-combined. Set aside.

3. Turn your oven on to about 375 or 400 (temps vary by oven).
4. Drain and rinse the beans, then add them to the veggies along with the Goya packet.

5. Remove the skillet from heat and pour the cornbread mixture over the top, spreading it around so that it covers the entire skillet. Sprinkle the cheese on top.

6. If there are any plastic pieces on the skillet, cover them up with foil, otherwise you’ll have not-so-nice plastic fumes floating around in your oven!

7. Cook for 15 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven when the cornbread is golden.

It probably won’t LOOK delicious, but trust me, it is!

One thing I learned while putting this tute together . .. .. my photography skills need work! Or maybe I just need a better camera!