Tamale Pie

This is one of our favorite meals. I always make it with ground turkey, so it's more healthy. In fact, I've been using ground turkey for so long in place of ground beef, that when I tried ground beef recently (90/10 beef), it tasted nasty to me. That was a side note. Don't be impressed, because I can still eat 4 large cookies in one sitting.

If you have a skillet that can go into the oven, use that. Otherwise, you'll have to transfer it into an 8x8 baking dish.

Okay, here's the recipe.

1 or 2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chipped

2 Tbsp chili powder

optional: cumin powder to taste

salt and ground pepper

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 small can of mild green chilies

1 lb ground turkey

1 (15-oz) can kidney beans (or black beans)

1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheese

Cornbread topping:

either a cornbread package mix or the following:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

3 Tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk)

1 large egg

3 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled (or you can accidentally measure out more butter than that, like I do)

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onions, chili powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook till onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add ground turkey and cook until browned. Add can of beans (UNDRAINED), can of tomatoes (UNDRAINED), and can of chilies. If you want to add cumin, add it now (I add about a tsp). Remove from heat, then stir in cheese. Don't skimp on the cheese. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, make the cornbread topping. Whisk all dry ingredients together. Add buttermilk and egg and stir. Add butter and stir until just combined. Pour cornbread batter over the mixture in the skillet. Put in a 375 oven for 45 minutes, till cornbread is cooked (test by sticking a knife into the middle of it and see if it pulls out clean).

Let cool 5 minutes, then serve. YUM-O.