Recipe: Black Bean and Potato Casserole

Recently, I came across an amazing deal for Russet potatoes.....$1.99 for a 10 lb. bag!!  We don't eat a lot of white potatoes, but I just could not pass up that deal.  Needless to say, I had to come up with several different recipes to use up that very large bag for our little family of 3.  One of the recipes that I created was this black bean and potato casserole.  It uses flavors from the Southwest and ingredients that are very easy to find.

Black Bean and Potato Casserole

3-5 Russet potatoes (3 if they are large/5 if they are smaller.....thinly sliced in rounds)
8 oz of low fat Monterrey jack cheese (shredded)
1 1/2 cups of black beans (cooked)
1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes
1 onion (diced)
1/2 of a red bell pepper (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
1 large handful of fresh cilantro (roughly chopped)

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2.  Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic.  Saute for about 3 minutes.
3.  Add the black beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper to the pan.  Simmer for 5-6 minutes so the flavors blend.  Stir in the cilantro.  Immediately remove from the heat and set aside.
4.  Steam or boil (I prefer steaming to retain the nutrients) the slices of potato for 3 minutes or until it is partially cooked.  You don't want to cook the potatoes all the way in order to avoid mushy potato layers in the casserole.  Remove the potato slices from the pot and set aside.
5.  Grease an 8 x 8 casserole dish.  Ladle 1/3 of the black bean mixture in the casserole dish.  Make sure that the mixture is spread out evenly.  Put a single layer of the potato slices on top of the black bean mixture.  Ladle half of the remaining black bean mixture on top of the potato slices.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over that layer.  Continue by placing another single layer of the potato slices.  Spread the remaining black bean mixture on top of that.  Sprinkle that layer with half of the remaining cheese.  Finish with the last layer of potato slices topped with the last of the shredded cheese.
6.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown.  Serve with a dollop of reduced fat sour cream.