Yesterday we had a nice morning at home before we visited the Apple store as Matt is researching future computers, and hit Lenscrafters as I am once again beside myself with a scratch right on my glasses (they rejected my plea to replace it gratis and I'm grappling with whether unsullied vision is worth $75 to me), before I went to work and Matt made several amazing pizzas (baked potato, Mediterranean, and veggie). Today, we slept in late (skipping yoga--I've had a cold this week and was up late working last night, and I think we were both ready to take it a little bit easy), read the Sunday paper, went for a walk, and then pre-made a Mexican casserole for later in the week. That, of course, is what I offer unto you. It's one of our favorites and a recipe I originally got from my sister-in-law, who also used to be a vegetarian. Here's how we usually make it:1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
8 oz jar salsa or picante sauce
About a cup of frozen or canned corn
1 cup sour cream
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies, not drained
2 cups of cooked rice
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup taco-flavored cheese (or monterey jack)
1 cup cheddar cheese
Combine all but the cheddar cheese in a casserole dish, mixing well with a spatula or wooden spoon. Sprinkle cheddar over the top and bake around 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Or, if you're like me, broil until the cheese is melted, then scoop out a serving and finish heating it in the microwave.
We love it because it tastes great, is cheap and easy, and reheats really well. It's also great as a dip for tortilla chips, incidentally.
It's a funny story about this because I usually just kind of made it hit or miss from memory, but the second or third time I made it with Matt, I was curious just how far I had strayed from the recipe and so I got it out and followed it (I thought) to a T. Well, I realized I had gone wrong when Matt gagged down a few bites and then finally put down his fork and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do this. This is just inedible." What was wrong with it? Well, it was kind of like a variation on an old joke...Would you like a little Mexican casserole with your pepper? I couldn't figure out where I had gone wrong. I thought maybe it was because I'd used freshly ground pepper instead of the regular prepackaged variety that it had been so...potent. After that I substantially decreased the pepper and otherwise went back to just sort of assembling it from memory. Today, I had the recipe out again because I was using a different brand of picante sauce and wanted to be sure I had the measurement right. I wondered aloud to Matt, "Gee, I still can't figure out what went wrong that time...I mean, it says right here: 14 teaspoons of pepper." Matt looked at me a little oddly, then went and got a pen and defined the little "1" over the "/4," which I had somehow missed. So anyway, consider yourselves warned: that is ONE-FOURTH of a teaspoon of pepper, for those of you like me who apparently have no internal sense of reason by which these things might be governed.
Of course, I'll put up a picture when we bake it.
We love it because it tastes great, is cheap and easy, and reheats really well. It's also great as a dip for tortilla chips, incidentally.
It's a funny story about this because I usually just kind of made it hit or miss from memory, but the second or third time I made it with Matt, I was curious just how far I had strayed from the recipe and so I got it out and followed it (I thought) to a T. Well, I realized I had gone wrong when Matt gagged down a few bites and then finally put down his fork and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do this. This is just inedible." What was wrong with it? Well, it was kind of like a variation on an old joke...Would you like a little Mexican casserole with your pepper? I couldn't figure out where I had gone wrong. I thought maybe it was because I'd used freshly ground pepper instead of the regular prepackaged variety that it had been so...potent. After that I substantially decreased the pepper and otherwise went back to just sort of assembling it from memory. Today, I had the recipe out again because I was using a different brand of picante sauce and wanted to be sure I had the measurement right. I wondered aloud to Matt, "Gee, I still can't figure out what went wrong that time...I mean, it says right here: 14 teaspoons of pepper." Matt looked at me a little oddly, then went and got a pen and defined the little "1" over the "/4," which I had somehow missed. So anyway, consider yourselves warned: that is ONE-FOURTH of a teaspoon of pepper, for those of you like me who apparently have no internal sense of reason by which these things might be governed.
Of course, I'll put up a picture when we bake it.
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