March 22, 2018
Hey y’all (all? everyone?!),
Today I am going to share with you a super easy recipe that came together out of sheer necessity, determination, resourcefulness, hunger and/or the will to win! Sounds intense, huh? Well, it was. Things get intense here around dinnertime.
I’m just kidding (kind of). In actuality, this is what happened. One week, I was in no mood to go grocery shopping (you know how that is). So, as a result, I didn’t have any meals planned for that week. But, obviously, my family still needed to eat. Soooooo, what did I do? I rummaged through the bottom of my freezer, the deep dark depths of my refrigerator drawers and the crevices of my pantry, and somehow pulled together a pretty tasty meal! I was pleasantly surprised because I have been in this predicament before and let’s just say that it didn’t turn out so well.
Anyway, because sharing is caring, below is the recipe to this super simple, easy and tasty meal. Feel free to modify however you see fit. It’s kind of hard to go wrong with this one!
Ingredients:
- 1lb of ground chicken (or ground turkey or shredded chicken meat. I’ve done all of the above and it always turns out good.)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 of red onion, diced
- 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5 oz can of fire roasted corn, drained
- 1 10 oz can of Rotel
- 1 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes
- 1 1 oz packet of taco seasoning
- 1 cup of dry rice
- 1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a small pot, combine two cups of water with one cup of dried rice. Add about a quarter of the taco seasoning packet to the rice and stir. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot, and let rice cook for 15 minutes. After the rice is cooked, turn off heat and set aside.
Next, in a pan that is ultimately large enough to hold all of these ingredients, saute onions and diced red pepper. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add ground chicken and brown until cooked through. Add the remainder of the taco seasoning packet to the meat mixture and stir to combine.
Next, add the drained beans, drained corn, Rotel and drained stewed tomatoes to the meat mixture. Stir to combine. Taste mixture and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Add the cooked rice to the meat and vegetable mixture. Stir to combine.
Also a cup of the shredded cheese to the mixture. Stir thoroughly to combine. Turn off stove and remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to a 9×13 pan, and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
Top with your favorite garnishes. I usually top this with sliced green onions, baked tortilla strips, and either a dollop of sour cream or plain fat free greek yogurt (which is my favorite substitute for sour cream).
Hope you enjoy!
