Chicken & Black Bean Bake

Even though I meal plan every week, I feel like we’re always eating the same things. There are millions of great recipes out there, and then there we are every Tuesday having Tacos. It’s going to be my goal to try out at least one new recipe each week. If we like it, then we can add it to the rotation, if not, then at least we tried something new!

This recipe caught my eye because it’s relatively easy and actually pretty healthy. It’s also versatile in the sense that you could add/remove certain ingredients and it would still turn out nicely. Some people make it vegetarian by excluding the chicken and substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Others added fresh or fire roasted tomatoes.

• 1.5 cups of brown rice, cooked in 3 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced and halved
• 1 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 chicken breast halves, chopped
• Seasoning salt to taste
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 can of black beans (14 oz)
• 1 can of diced green chile peppers (4 oz)
• 1 – 2 cups of shredded cheese, I used a combo of marble and Parmesan but pretty much any hard cheese would do!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

2. In a large pan or wok, cook the chicken breast along with the olive oil until it’s no longer pink. Add in the garlic, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with seasoning salt and cook until the vegetables are slightly browned.

3. Add the beans, chile peppers and cooked rice until well incorporated. Mix in half of the cheese and transfer to baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese and bake for approx. 20 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted and slightly brown.
Makes approx 6 servings.