Crockpot Tamale Pie Recipe (Bookmarked Recipes)

Last year I hit the 5 year mark at my company. As a thank you, you get to choose a gift. The choices for 5 years aren't that exciting to most people. But I was excited to see a crockpot on the list (Hubby chose a carry-on suitcase for his). When Hubby and I moved in together, his mother gave us her 20+ year old crockpot. She said she never used it. We have gone through phases over the past 5 years of living together. Some years we used it a lot, others not so much. But with our upcoming kitchen demolition and renovation, we knew the crockpot would start getting more use.

Hubby already broke in the new crockpot for another batch of Ropa Veija the day after I brought it home. But this is the first NEW recipe we've made in it.

Crockpot Tamale Pie - from A Year of Crockpotting - serves 6
Cornbread topping
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cup flour - I used 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk - I used soy milk
1/4 cup sugar - I used Splenda baking mix
1 egg - I used 1/4 cup Southwestern Style Egg Beaters
1 tsp baking powder

Filling
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can drained corn
1 Tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup diced onion - I used about 1/3 cup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese - I used Veggie Shreds Cheddar Flavored Cheese

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Dump in the filling ingredients--cheese, too!-- and stir well to distribute the spices. You will not be able to stir this again, so please check to see that the spices aren't in a clump anywhere.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. When finished, pour evenly over the filling, spreading with a spatula if needed.

Cover and cook on low for 4-7 hours or on high for 2-4. I cooked on high and it took about 2.5 hours.