Mexican Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

Happy Wednesday everyone! Hopefully everyone is having a great week so far, and was able to enjoy the beautiful weather we had last week. I think Braxton and I spent half of the week walking around the neighbourhood playing in the leaves. Back to the normal rainy and wet fall that we are used to, and this momma definitely needs to find some indoor toddler activities that Braxton will actually do.

But back the topic of this post. A few weeks ago I talked about trying some new recipes and I wanted to share an easy dinner go to that has little prep work involved. It can also be changed about a hundred different ways depending of the mood you are in.

Mexican Unstuffed Pepper Casserole (original recipe)                                         

1 lb. extra lean ground hamburger                             1 cup salsa
2 peppers, chopped                                                  1 cup pasta sauce
1 1/2 cups basmati rice, cooked                                
1 cup marble cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2L casserole dish with cooking spray.

2. Brown hamburger, adding peppers near the end. Cook for a few minutes extra to wilt the peppers. Drain excess grease. Stir in the rice, salsa and pasta sauce; stir well. Add 1/2 the cheese and stir until blended in.

3. Spoon into prepared casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until heated through. Broil for an additional few minutes until the cheese is nice and crispy.

I enjoyed this dish just the way it was, but Luis felt it needed a bit more spice and added some Cajun seasoning to his. It would be so easy to change the flavour of this dish with a little seasoning, and I will probably do this next time I make the dish. The original recipe included habenaro cheese which would have added the missing spiciness Luis was looking for, while at the same time killed me because I do not do spicy. At all. Mild is almost too much some days.

The best thing about this recipe is that it is an easy solution to using your leftover rice! We always have rice leftover, no matter how much we make. Seriously. Now, with a little planning I can purposely make too much and have even less to do the next day to prepare. I am really starting to value quick and easy meal execution, and will do a little extra to ensure that I have as much time to spend with my family instead of in the kitchen.

Do you guys have an easy go-to recipes that can be made a number of ways depending on what you have in your fridge or spice rack? I will take any suggestions!

Kerby   

Linking to:
Tatertots and Jello - Link Party Palooza 11/13/15