Brown Rice and Black Bean Casserole

brown rice and black bean casserole
(the end of my busy picture season is wrapping up so I'll hopefully be back to more frequent posting soon!)
This is a perfect meal for fall and winter! It's has the cheesiness I love in casseroles, but without the guilt because of all the added veggies and lowfat cheese. I saw this recipe on Peachtree Cooking and luckily I loved it enough to eat it for lunch and dinner for days in a row...the rest of my family were not fans :-). I would still make it again though! I think I would use a low-fat cheddar on top that melts a little easier and just use the swiss mixed in with the casserole itself.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup brown rice
1 cup vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/3 cup onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, chopped or thinly sliced
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I used 1 can chicken)
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp. cumin
Salt, to taste
Cayenne Pepper, to taste
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (4 oz.) can green chilies
1/3 cup carrots, chopped small
2 cups shredded swiss cheese (I used 2% swiss slices and shredded them)

Directions:Mix the rice and chicken broth in pot on stovetop, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 45 minutes, or until rice is tender. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a medium-sized casserole dish (I used 9x9). Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onion until tender. Mix in the zucchini, chicken, and mushrooms. Season with cumin, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir until zucchini is lightly browned and chicken is heated through. In a large bowl, mix the rice, onion, zucchini, chicken, mushrooms, beans, chilies, carrots, and half of the swiss cheese. Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Cover casserole dish loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

2 comments:

Julie said...

This sounds healthy and wonderful..love it :)

ThatGirl said...

I made this last week for my crafting friends. We get together once a month and have a potluck. Well it was yummy!!! All the ladies asked for the recipe. The only thing I did different was, cook the carrots with the onions and add a just a bit of chicken broth to it (when it was all done) because I was making it the night before and baking it the next day. I also used jack cheese instead of swiss. Loved it, thank you for the recipe.