It’s back to school season! Which of course means a big shift in our schedules. Picking up, dropping off, early wake ups, etc. If you homeschool, it also means a shift back into a more predictable routine. With all of this shift in schedules, we need filling, easy, and reliably yummy meals for fuel.
The answer is this amazingly delicious black bean and rice casserole. Rice casseroles are such a homey and hearty meal, not to mention a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Especially if your kid is coming home with a barely touched lunchbox, you want dinner to be a success.
This recipe uses salsa as the secret ingredient to awesome flavor, but the kind is up to you. Pick mild salsas for kids and picky eaters, spicy salsas if that’s your thing, or something fun like Trader Joe’s mango salsa. Homemade would be even better, but let’s be real, we want dinner to be ready fast. In fact, some frozen, precooked rice would work for this too!
This casserole freezes well if meal prep is your thing, but be sure to add the chips halfway through cooking so they don’t burn.
Black Bean and Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
- 1 cup long grain brown rice, uncooked
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 head broccoli, chopped
- 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup salsa
- 1-2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- juice of half a lime
- 1 cup of crushed tortilla chips
Directions:
- Rinse the rice and bring to a boil with the broth. Cover and turn down to simmer and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and oil a large casserole dish.
- In a large bowl, mix the rice, beans, vegetables, salsa, spices, salt and pepper, and lime. Pour into the casserole.
- Top with the crushed tortilla chips and bake until heated through and vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
