Tex-Mex Hamburger Cassrole

In my kitchen, we're still doing a very lose meal-planning system every night. I have an idea every night of what I want to cook, but that idea is subject to change based on my mood or anything that pops up (like all the impromptu hospital runs DH and I have made over the past 2 weeks to see his grandma, who is still in ICU and needs prayers, by the way!). Last night, I had a pound of hamburger thawed out and planned to just cook Hamburger Helper. We keep several boxes of that stuff on hand for quick meals. Since I have a killer sinus infection right now, I figured I wouldn't want to cook anything involved last night.

For some reason, when I got home I was motivated to try a new recipe. I felt terrible, but I had a strong urge to feed my little family somethin better than a from-a-box meal! I am SO not creative when it comes to food, so I did a quick google search for hamburger casserole and whipped up the first result that sounded good: Quick and Easy Tex-Mex Beef and Rice Bake. What a mouthful, huh?

Yeah, that doesn't look very appetizing, does it? I swear it was! Even my uber-picky DH liked it! I think I had too much rice, but I'm not so great at measuring rice for some reason. The rice absorbed a lot of the sauce, so I should have either had less rice or more sauce. Live and learn!

I even whipped up some yummy corn muffins to go with it, though I didn't get a picture of them. Ya'll know what they look like. Yellow muffins. :P  And for the record, C went crazy over those babies!

So here's the recipe just in case you don't feel like clickin on the link above. I made a few changes, noted below.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice - Not sure exactly how much I ended up with, but I started with a cup of uncooked rice. Too much!
• 1/2 to 1 pound ground beef, chuck or round - I had a little over a pound cause that's how our beef comes to us from the guy who slaughters our cows for us.
• 1/2 cup chopped onion - My onion was tiny and I couldn't taste it at all, might add more next time.
• 1/4 cup chopped green or red bell pepper - DH loved the peppers!!
• 1 can (15 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed - I didn't have black beans, so I substituted kidney beans. DH and I are not fans of kidney beans, so we weren't in love with how that turned out. Next time, if I don't have black beans I'll try pinto beans, as DH says they're not as dry.
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce - Really shoulda used a little more.
• 1 cup corn kernels (use canned, drained or frozen, thawed)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• Dash garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin - Why don't I ever have cumin??! I used ground curry and it was delicious!
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro - Yeah, fresh herbs do not happen at my house. Dried cilantro worked just fine. We don't know the difference in taste since we've never cooked with fresh herbs!
• Shredded Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend of cheeses, for topping  - I used both!

Preparation:

Cook rice and set aside. Lightly grease a 2-quart casserole. Heat oven to 350°. Cook the beef and onion until beef is no longer pink; add bell pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes longer. Stir in all remaining ingredients except cheese. Stir in cooked rice. Spoon the mixture into a casserole. Bake for 25 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and cook for 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.
Serves 4 to 6.


I'll definitely be cooking this dish again! This recipe makes a pretty big batch and we had a lot leftover. I froze two big containers full last night, so we'll see how it tastes after its been frozen. I plan on finding out late next week probably. ( :