Southwestern Turkey and Hash Brown Casserole

I was searching for a recipe for "Turkey Breakfast Casserole" on Pinterest, because I had some cooked turkey in the fridge, and I was looking for a good way to use it for dinner.  Makes sense, right?  But I just wasn't finding anything interesting by just looking for a turkey casserole.

Anyway, I'm not sure why this particular recipe came up because it had absolutely no turkey in it, but it sounded really good so I went with it.  I just substituted my turkey for the sausage in the original recipe, added some corn, and used roasted red pepper instead of the diced green chilies.  It's pretty much the same...

Southwestern Turkey and Hash Brown Casserole
adapted from Julia's Album

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 a bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup diced roasted red pepper
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups diced cooked turkey
• 1 tsp chili powder, divided
• 1 tsp ground cumin, divided
• 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 3 cups frozen hash browns 
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 can black beans (15 oz), drained
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.  Generously butter a 13x9" baking dish.
2. Heat oil in large skillet; add chopped onions and cook on medium heat 2-3 minutes. Add chopped pepper and cook until onion is translucent, stirring often. Add roasted red pepper, turkey, and half the spices (1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp salt) and cook until fragrant.  Add hash browns, corn, and  black beans; mix well.  Turn off heat.
3. In medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and the remaining spices (1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp salt - and a dash of black pepper).
4. Mix 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and the shredded mozzarella cheese into the hash brown mixture.  Cheese will start to melt.
5. Spoon half of hash brown mixture into prepared baking dish and pour half of egg mixture on top.  Repeat with remaining hash brown mixture and then egg mixture.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar on top.
6. Bake, uncovered for about 40-45 minutes, until eggs are set and casserole is nicely browned. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

This turned out really well.  It's good either just the way it is, or with some salsa and sour cream on top.  I love the browned edges.  And the flavors are all really good together.

I thought about adding some crushed tortilla chips to the mix, but since I was planning to serve this with some cornbread muffins, I decided to skip the chips. I also think a green salad would be great with this, but we'd just finished our salad for lunch, and I didn't feel like making another one.  So we had peas instead.  I think it just needs something green to go with it.  Of course, I think that about a lot of things.  Every meals deserves some green.