Southwestern Rice & Corn Casserole

My first taste of victory came last summer in a "people's choice" corn recipe contest at the Woodbury Farmer's Market. For my recipe, I decided to combine several of the ingredients I love into a "tex-mex" casserole. I guess the market patrons that voted enjoy the combination of corn, tomatoes, rice, beans and cheese, too.

In order to perfect my recipe I made the dish several times in the weeks leading up to the contest. First I tried starting with un-cooked rice. Unhappy with the results - the rice wasn't fluffy enough - I switched to cooking the rice in advance. I also started with plain diced tomatoes from a can, but switching to the Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies made a big improvement in the tex-mex taste I was trying to achieve.

I had fun with this recipe and I hope you do, too. It's easy to modify to fit what you have on hand and what "tex-mex" tastes you like (or don't like). It might be fun to try kidney beans. Or, maybe macaroni instead of rice? (I'm not sure how that would work, but it might taste good!) You could even try adding ground beef or shredded chicken (with or without taco seasoning) to make this a main course casserole.

Southwestern Rice and Corn Casserole
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 Tbs. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. cooked rice
1 tsp. salt
4 ears of corn, kernels and milk removed from the cob with a knife
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped (optional)
1 c. grated mexican blend cheese

Saute the onion in butter and olive oil until soft and starting to brown. Stir in chili pepper and cumin and cook, stirring, 15-30 seconds. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer 10 minutes. Add beans, rice, corn and cilantro; stir to combine. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Bake at 350 deg. for 40 minutes, adding cheese during last 10 minutes.