I have a recipe for you to try!
Unless you are one of those abnormal humans, like my mom, who doesn’t like Mexican style food. Then I might suggest therapy, because who doesn’t like Mexican food?
I don’t know that I can properly call this a Mexican style recipe, it is in no way authentic. This is very much like a Chipotle restaurant inspired dish. Which might also be called heaven inspired, but maybe that’s just me. I imagine heaven will only serve Mexican and Chinese foods. It’s gonna be amazing.
Anyways, back to my recipe. This isn’t a complicated or fancy recipe, but it does take a little bit of time and planning, so pencil this into your Saturday or Sunday meal plan on the first go around. But I promise, it is worth the effort. It’s like your own Chipotle burrito bowl that you made yourself. Which is important because, ain’t nobody got a budget to handle Chipotle everyday. Well, I guess some people do have that kind of budget, but I can’t be friends with them, it makes me covetous.
I will never claim to be a food blogger. I know absolutely nothing about how to take those bright and gorgeous photos (nor is my kitchen ever clean enough when I’m cooking to take fancy photos like that). I also will not have the cute little Nutrition Facts boxes for my recipes because I don’t believe in Nutrition Fact boxes or counting grams and calories when you eat (shh, don’t tell). But I do wish to share good recipes when I find them, or create them as is the case with this one. I do hope you enjoy, even without fancy pictures and protein gram calculations. By the way, this recipe is actually pretty healthy, even without the Nutrition Facts box as proof.
Oh, and I eyeball and guestimate my measurements when cooking (but never when baking), so I encourage you to eyeball and guestimate too, it makes things taste better, usually.
So, without further rambling, I present to you, deliciousness…
Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice Casserole
For the cilantro lime chicken
- 2-3 diced chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup (or so) olive oil
- Juice of 2 limes (and the zest if you’re not as lazy/injury prone as me)
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed (I really love garlic, feel free to tone this down if you don’t)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Drizzle of honey
- 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
Place the chicken in a gallon sized ziplock bag (or a big bowl if you like to be earth friendly). Mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour over the chicken. Make sure it’s all good and combined and then stick it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight or all day while you’re working.
Dump the entire bag into a large skillet and cook on medium heat until chicken is cooked through. Reserve excess marinade in the pan for next step.
For the fajita veggies
- 1-2 sliced bell peppers
- 1 sliced onion
Lightly saute veggies in extra marinade just until they begin to soften.
For the cilantro lime garlic rice
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice (or white if you can’t handle the good stuff)
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
- juice of 1 lime (add the zest too if you feel so inclined)
- 1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Mix all of this together and cook according to rice directions, until the rice is done. (You can use regular rice or minute rice, so just follow the directions on your bag or box for time).
For the tomatillo sauce
- 1/2 jar Tomatillo Salsa (so you know what you’re looking for, affiliate link)
- 2 Tablespoons – 1/4 cup Ranch dressing (this really depends on how much heat you like, we love ranch over spice so we use more)
Stir together.
To actually make the casserole
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375. Spray/grease a 13×9″ pan. Pour rice into the pan, top with chicken, veggies, and black beans. Sprinkle with cheese. Pour sauce over the top and lightly mix it all up. Bake for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
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