Fast & Easy Mexican Casserole
1 medium yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
1 jar salsa (however hot you prefer)
1 bag yellow corn tortilla chips
1 can corn (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1-16 oz. bag shredded cheese (any Mexican blend)
3 cup cooked brown rice (instant works great)
2 tablespoon high heat cooking oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the brown rice (I often use instant; it's much easier since I don't have a rice-cooker).
Heat oil in medium skillet. Saute diced onion and red bell pepper until just softened. Adding a little salt makes the veggies sweat nicely.
In a bowl, mix 1 can black beans with 1 can corn (both drained).
Layer in 13x9 casserole dish:[br] bottom layer- whole corn chips, brown rice, black bean and corn mixture, part of the bag of cheese, the diced onion and pepper, salsa, and top with crumbled corn chips and cheese.
Bake covered with tin foil at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake uncovered another 10 minutes.
Other suggestions:
If you're a big fan of beans, it works well to mix in 1 can of brown beans with the black bean and corn mixture. I like more beans, but my roommates don't, so I make it this way.
You can also add 1 green bell pepper to the peppers and onions for more color and flavor.
If you like spicier food, mix cayenne pepper into the sauteed peppers and onions before layering in casserole dish.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Very good!
Instead of the brown rice, I actually used Jasmine rice cooked in vegetable broth. I thought this gave it more of a "Spanish rice" type feel.
Thanks for the recipe! ;)b
basilLeaf
Daaayyuumm ;)b.This meal is super simple and super deeelicious.The salsa is the key flavor. I don't like salsa but this is the bomb so spread salsa everywhere.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was REALLY good!! There are only my husband and me, so I kind of halved everything...and I added meat (I know that's a no-no on this website!!). We ate it with chips and really enjoyed it. We thought leftovers would be good rolled up in tortillas and we plan to do that tomorrow night for dinner!! Instead of plain rice, I used the cilantro rice recipe here on this website and it added a little extra flavor, which was really good!!
The only thing I would change is that I didn't like the chips on the bottom. I think I'd make it without those next time. And I would put more vegetables on the top. That was the best part, the peppers and onions, and I felt like there weren't enough.
Definitely a good recipe and something I will make again (and possibly again and again and again) with many possibilities for variations!
This was a nice alternative to the usual way of eating these ingredients. I made my own spicy tomato sauce instead of salsa and added in black olives. I used chili corn chips too for an extra spicy meal. I will totally be making this again.
We loved this meal. The only issue we has was when leftovers are re-heated the meal became very dry, but still tastey!
This dish is great! I added kidney beans and an extra pepper. I also used fresh salsa, it was soooooo good! I brought it to a family party because my boyfriend and I are the only vegetarians of the family and everything they were serving had meat in it. Everyone tried my dish and loved it. Thank you! :)
This is a great recipe! I have one that is similar, but without the rice. I like the addition of the rice, it makes it very hearty.
I will add green olives next time to bump up the flavor, and I might add a bit of tomato sauce or salsa over the rice, because it was a bit dry/bland. I also added mushrooms to the onion/pepper mix and chickpeas to the bean/corn mix.
I didn't use a whole bag of chips or all 16 ox. cheese, and I LOVE cheese AND tortilla chips!
This is a food processor's dream! I chopped the onions/pepper/mushrooms then shredded the cheese, making prep time much faster. This would be great to use up leftover rice!
The flavor is basic but delicious. My picky husband even loved it. It's really filling, too. This recipe could serve 6-8 people as a main dish. My only complaint is the 45 minute prep time is WAY optimistic. Baking alone is 40 minutes, and that doesn't include cook time for the rice. From unpacking the groceries to serving the casserole was 1.5 hours for me. The good news: my husband was hungry enough by then he couldn't afford to be picky.