Recipe Review: Baked Chicken with Rice and Black Beans

The Hubs and I absolutely looooove this recipe.  It’s soooo yummy!  It’s from a 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine and I’ve gotta tell you – they hit it out of the park with this one.

Baked Chicken with Rice and Black Beans

Serves 6 to 8 (I’d really say 4 to 6)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (10oz) package yellow rice mix (we use the mahatma mix in the yellow bag) & any ingredients required to make it (check the packaging)
• 1 cup chopped onion (we prefer ours finely diced, but we like a lot of onion – if you don’t love onion or don’t care or are going for convenience you could definitely use frozen chopped onion)
• ½ cup chopped green bell pepper (we use frozen)
• ½ cup chopped carrot
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken (use either a pre-cooked store-bought rotisserie chicken or bake a chicken breast or two the night before)
• 1 (15oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (10oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (Rotel), undrained (we didn’t have any so I used a can of regular diced tomatoes and chopped up some pickled jalapenos)
• 2 cups (8oz) grated Monterrey Jack cheese (we used a ‘Mexican blend’)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare rice according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, sauté onion, bell pepper, and carrot in hot oil in a medium skillet over medium heat for 10 minutes or until tender (do not let it burn!).
3. Combine hot cooked rice, onion mixture, chicken, beans, diced tomatoes and chiles, and 1-1/2 cups cheese in a large bowl.  Spoon into a lightly greased 3-qt or 13×9-inch baking dish; sprinkle with remaining ½-cup cheese.
4. Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes.

THOUGHTS

• If you use rotisserie chicken (or bake chicken the night before) as well as frozen onions and bell peppers this dish comes together in a flash.  It makes a great weeknight meal!
• We prefer this dish with refrigerated melon severed on the side (watermelon, cantaloupe or honeydew).  The dish has just a little kick and the cool melon makes a nice pairing.
• If you don’t like spicy you can absolutely take out the Rotel and just used plain diced tomatoes (just make sure you only use 10oz as a ‘standard’ diced tomato can is 16oz).
• If your family is dairy-free (or one person in your family is) you can omit the cheese and just top individual plates with cheese as desired.

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