Taco Rice Bowls

I've been in kind of a food rut lately. I don't feel like making old stuff, but nothing new is really striking my fancy either.

I sat down with a few cookbooks that I hadn't touched in months, hoping that something would jump out at me. Rachael Ray came to my rescue and I decided to adapt her Mexican Rice Bowls (click the link for the original).

I really love making a whole chicken in the crockpot and I'm always looking for different things to do with the shredded leftovers. These were really simple to throw together and rather delicious as well. This would make a great lunch when I go back to work.


Ingredients

• 2-3 cups shredded chicken
• 2 cups white rice
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1/2 packet taco seasoning (more if desired)
  
• 1/2 cup tomato salsa
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Blue or red corn tortilla chips and salsa for serving (optional)
• Optional garnish: shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, avocado...
  

Heat a medium size pot over medium-heat; add EVOO and butter. When butter has melted into EVOO, add shredded chicken and the rice and cook a minute or two. Then add the chicken stock to the pot and the taco seasoning. Put a lid on the pot and raise to high heat to bring the stock to a quicker boil, 2-3 minutes. When the liquid boils, reduce heat to simmer and put the lid back on. Cook until the rice is tender but still a little chewy in the center, 13-15 minutes.

Take off the lid and stir in salsa and parsley. Turn off the heat and let stand five minutes.

Serve hot taco rice in bowls placed on dinner plates and garnish plates with chips and leftover salsa or taco sauce for dipping.

Layered Fiesta Casserole

I have been receiving complimentary copies of Food and Family from Kraft, as I'm sure many of you do. Even though it's usually one big commercial for their products, I've certainly found my share of yummy things! They recently started charging for this, and as much as I enjoy it, I won't be subscribing.

I found this recipe for a Layered Fiesta Casserole in their last issue and added it to my menu immediately. It absolutely did not disappoint - it was easy and fantastic.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 jar (16 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed
• 4-6 corn tortillas (12 inch)
• 1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided

HEAT oven to 375°F.

BROWN meat with peppers in large skillet; drain. Return to skillet. Stir in salsa, tomatoes and corn.

SPREAD 1 cup meat mixture onto bottom of 9x9-inch baking dish; top with 1 tortilla. Cover with layers of the remaining meat mixture and cheese; top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover with foil.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese; let stand 5 min. or until melted.

Taco Casserole

My friend Colleen came to visit Daniel after his birth, and in addition to the sweetest little overalls outfits, she brought a delicious Taco Casserole for us to have to dinner. Since then, every time I refer to her in conversation, my husband always says, "She's the one who brought us that good taco dinner, right?"


It was so delicious, and I couldn't wait until she posted it on her blog so I could cook it again.

I followed the recipe exactly (which she got from Taste and Tell) and heeded her recommendation to add salsa to the beef. Delish!


Ingredients

• 16 oz. taco sauce
• 12 ounce can buttermilk biscuits
• 4-6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• 4-6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 can sliced olives, drained
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 jar salsa

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. Spread taco sauce evenly over bottom of dish.

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Place biscuit pieces in hot sauce, turn to coat. Sprinkle biscuits with half of the cheese and the olives. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

In a large skillet, combine ground beef, peppers, mushrooms, cumin and chili powder. Cook until ground beef is cooked through and add the jar of salsa.

Sprinkle the ground beef mixture over the baked biscuit mixture. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake an additional 5-7 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Layered Taco Casserole

This Taco Casserole dinner from Adventures in Marriage was really delicious! It was a little too dip-like for me, though, and I felt like I was cheating by eating chips instead of a real dinner, hee hee!

I also chose to bake my meat instead of microwaving it; I put it in for about 15 minutes on 350.


Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 can cheddar cheese soup
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• tortilla chips

Brown meat, adding taco seasoning according to package directions.
Spread beans in bottom of casserole dish, cover with cooked and seasoned meat.
Pour soup over meat, and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Cook in microwave on high for 15 minutes on until cheese melts and mixture is bubbly.
Place sour cream over cheese, top with green onions and tomatoes.