Mexican Brown Rice Casserole
This was a really great cold weather dinner. It would also be great in the summertime with a salad on the side. As usual, I deviated from the original recipe & added way more chili powder than it called for, and I added sauteed onions & green peppers. I also made homemade tortilla chips to eat this with.
These servings were HUGE. I topped each serving with a 1/4 cup of low fat sour cream & a few dashes of hot sauce. (the sour cream will add points)
Mexican Brown Rice Casserole
Servings: 6 ● Points Plus: 8
Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 1/4 cup salsa
- 1 TB cumin
- 15 oz can of refried beans
- 10 oz frozen corn kernels
- 4 oz can mild green chili peppers, chopped
- 2 TB chili powder (1 TB if you don’t like it too spicy)
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
- 3/4 cup low fat shredded cheese
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- fresh cilantro for garnish
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13” (or 2 quart) baking pan with non-stick spray. Saute onions & peppers in a pan until they’re semi-soft, about 4 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine rice, salsa, onion & peppers.
3. In a second bowl, combine beans, corn, green chili peppers, chili powder & cumin.
4. Spoon 2 cups of the rice mixture on the bottom of the baking pan. Scoop bean mixture on top. Drain all of the water out of the spinach & layer on top of the bean mixture. Sprinkle with 6 TB of cheese. Top with the remaining rice mixture & sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
5. Bake until casserole is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Top with cilantro before serving.
