Rosie Makes Corn Bean Tortilla Pie.

Whenever I throw a party or get invited to one and bring a dish, I turn to my corn bean tortilla pie. Everybody loves it. It's that good. Once again, I'm asking you to trust Rosie.

Here's my finished product, ready to be transported to Nan and Zack's for their party.

You could use a can of black beans (Be sure to rinse them well.), but I prefer the real deal. Rinse the beans off, put in salted water, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Drain out the water. Rinse the beans. Refill with water and low simmer for about 25 more minutes. I like my beans al dente not mushy. After 30-35 minutes, start test-tasting every 5 minutes or so. Find out how you want the texture of your beans to be.

My ingredients: can of corn equal amount of black beans I made more beans than I needed so I can make black bean moreovers. And if you're making any kind of bean moreovers, you need to make them sooner than later. They can ferment in a heartbeat. green and black olives onion scallion jalapeno cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses tortillas peppers (not shown) cilantro (not shown) I have no recipe for this. Just make it up as you go along.

Mix the black beans and the corn.

Finely chop the scallion, peppers, and onion. Mince the cilantro. Notice I switched to a red onion for color. And I used red, orange, and yellow peppers. I was out of green pepper. Not the whole peppers. Not the whole onion. Make a nice combination of colors.

Mix all together. If you're a cilantro-hater, then use parsley. Or leave it out all together.

Grate the cheeses. How much cheese? I used a grater full of each. If you need more, go for it. One can never have too much cheese.

Slice the olives. Not a whole can. Not a whole jar. As much as you want.

And now you can begin assembly. Brush melted butter on a foil-lined pan first and place the first tortilla.

Add a layer of cheeses.

Add a layer of corn/bean mixture.

Top with a another layer of cheese. Here's an assembly tip: Spread your ingredients evenly out to the edges of the tortilla. Maybe even add a little extra cheese around the outside, because you want the next tortilla to sit evenly, not drape down over the edges.

Add another tortilla and more cheeses, corn/bean mixture, olives, and cheeses.

Just keep layering until you use up almost everything. Save a bit of the corn/bean mixture and some cheeses for topping.

Brush top tortilla and edges with melted butter.

Sprinkle cayenne on edges.

Add a bit of cumin.

Top with the rest of the corn/bean mixture. So's people will have an inkling of what's in it.

Mince some jalapeno and slice more scallion for topping.

More cheese on top.

You must admit, this is purty.

Since I was taking this to a party, I used the larger 9 inch tortillas. If you prefer, you could use the smaller 7 inch tortillas.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until cheese is nicely melted. Check halfway through and tent with foil if needed. See why I put in my "tip" about building up around the edges? This creation is prone to domeness. I know this and still don't build it up enough on the outsides. What I've tried to do in this "recipe" is let a novice cook know there really is no recipe. Take a little bit of red and green onions, colorful peppers, some jalapeno heat, some green and black olives, or not, some beans and corn, and add in a little spice - cumin and cayenne and cilantro and fix it the way it tastes good to you. Taste as you go along. You could put in tomatoes if you like. You could use tiny dices of squash and zucchini. This is the heart of cooking. Jump in and do it. Nay. Dive in. You will be rewarded.

Slice into wedges and serve.

This one was comprised of 6 tortilla layers.

You will not have leftovers. Stay tuned for my salsa and guacamole.