Date Night Dinners - Mexican

9/13/2013 tringel 0 Comments

Date night number two and going strong. We decided to go with a Mexican flare for tonights dinner. We have made this dish before and it is delicious, but we added some extra ingredients to try and spice it up tonight. Plus you can't go wrong with Mexican, if for no other reason then the guacamole goodness that should be a mandatory accompaniment for all dishes of this style. I love guacamole - I eat it by the spoonful. People don't ask me if I want some guac with my chips, they ask if I wants some chips with my guac. But more about guacamole later (believe me I could go on forever).

We like this dish and chose it for tonight because it is inexpensive and easy and fairly healthy, but still explodes with big bursts of flavor. Making the dish takes a while, but besides chopping up a few ingredients, mixing all the ingredients together and popping the it in the oven, it is a stress free meal. Honestly. So what if it takes an hour and a half to cook, you don't have to do anything but wait. It gives you the perfect amount of time to watch your date night movie or show, or in my case put the final touches start on the homework assignments I may or may not have procrastinated on. So give it a try. I promise it will be worth it!

Spanish Casserole with Guacamole
Adapted from eatliverun.com, Rice Bean Casserole with Guacamole

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice, dry
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (can substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian meal)
• 1 8-oz can tomato soup
• 1 14.5-oz can beans, drained and rinsed (I use kidney beans, change up the beans to alter the flavor a bit)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced (I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the seeds for a good amount of spice, discard or use seeds based on the amount of heat you want)
• 4 hotdogs, cubed (omit if your are vegetarian)
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (I use about 1/4 of the seeds, again, determine seed amount based on heat desired, I tend to use guac to counterbalance and cool off)
• .5-1 tsp cumin
• .5 tsp garlic salt
• .5 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tomato small to medium sized, chopped
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a 9x13" casserole dish, add rice, broth, soup, beans, jalapeno pepper, hotdogs, cumin, shili powder, salt, and garlic powder.
3. Stir well until completely combined.
4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
5. Place in oven and back for 90 minutes, or until liquid has fully absorbed. (If you want it to be soupy, remove after an 60-75 minutes.
6. While casserole is cooking, cut, peel, and remove pit of the avocados.
7. Place avocado in a medium bowl along with minced jalapeno, cumin, garlic salt, black pepper, cilantro, tomato, onion, and lime juice.
8. Mix until thoroughly combined.
9. Taste and chill until casserole is finished cooking.
10. Serve casserole and guacamole together, about 5 minutes after cooking.
11. Enjoy the wonderful burst of flavor!