Make this tonight!

I like recipes that:
-are cost-effective
-I already have a bulk of the ingredients for on hand ( I hate buying 12 different things for one new recipe)
-are nutritious and include vegetables
-can be made quickly with minimal prep
-are delicious!
-my kids can eat too

I made this recipe last night and it met ALL of my criteria, especially the last two.  It came from our favorite cookbook, which I highly recommend.  It is called The Best 30-minute Recipe by the authors of Cooks Illustrated.  If you are not familiar with Cooks Illustrated, they basically test out every recipe in a variety of ways to find the best way to prepare the dish.  Sometimes, their recipes are a bit time consuming though.  This cookbook, however, only has recipes which have been shortened to 30 minute prep times without compromising flavor (which is what I find is often compromised with fast recipes).  Anyway, enough about that, here is the recipe!

Fiesta Chicken Casserole

1 Tbl vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used the pre-minced kind in a jar)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup salsa, drained (I prefer the "fresh salsa" rather than the kind that is more tomato paste-y if you know what I mean)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed
3/4 cup frozen corn
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I added chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper to my chicken and let it bake in the oven while I prepared the other parts of the dish)
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
 1 cup shredded cheddar
 1 cup coarsely crushed fritos corn chips (you could use tortilla if you like, but I think the fritos gave it a nice flavor and texture)


1. Heat oven, saute aromatics, and make sauce: Heat oven to 450. Heat oil in skillet and cook onion until soft, 3 min.  Add garlic, cook 30 sec.  Add broth and salsa and bring to simmer.

2. Add rice and vegetables and bake:  Stir in rice, beans, and corn.  Pour into baking dish and bake for 10 minutes (I actually omitted this step and just heated everything through in the pan)

3. Add chicken and remaining ingredients and heat through: Stir in chicken and cilantro.  Sprinkle cheddar over top and then corn chips.  Continue to bake until edges are bubbling and chips are toasted, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!  Let me know if you try this recipe or if you have any recipes that are your favorite that might meet my recipe "criteria!"

Also, interesting note:  As I was cooking, I was offering my girls the ingredients for their lunch--beans, corn, rice, chicken, etc.  They would hardly eat any of it.  However, when the ingredients were baked together in the casserole, they SCARFED it down!  Sophie never eats meats, but she ate the chicken as well as all the other ingredients in the dish (even onion).  I was so impressed and happy!