Fiesta Turkey Hotdish

I saw this recipe for Fiesta chicken casserole over at Plain Chicken.

 

I went all kinds of crazy and used leftover turkey from Thanksgiving instead of Chicken.  What a rebel I am. 

Turkey was the least of the things I did to alter this recipe.  First, I didn't realize that I needed INSTANT rice.  I never have instant rice in the house anymore.  Mainly because slow poke regular rice is cheaper, and I prefer medium grain rice.  I've never seen instant medium grain rice. 

Because I wasn't using instant rice, I upped the milk from 2 T to a whopping 3/4 cup.  I was right on the money with this.  The rice would not have had enough liquid to puff up and cook all the way through without it.  I bet you could even use up to a cup of milk and not have a soupy mess. 

The casserole needed to be cooked longer before the rice was done.  Instead of 30 min, I cooked the dish for 50 min and gave the mess a good stir before topping it with cheese and chips.  My guess was that it was going to take an hour to cook and I was right on the money with that estimate. 

I also switched things up by using cream of mushroom and garlic soup instead of the cream of chicken the recipe calls for.  I wasn't trying to be fancy or nuthin.  It was the only "cream  of" soup that was in the pantry.  Let me tell you, that garlic smell from the soup was amazing.  Filled the whole house with its goodness. 

There were a few other little things I did to make this dish a little different.  Instead of Taco seasoning I used Penzeys Spices' Arizona Dreaming. I was nearly out of Taco seasoning and guessed, correctly, that this would have similar tasting flavors as the taco seasoning.  For the cheese I used a combo of Colby Jack and Extra Sharp cheddar as it was what I had in the fridge.  I also probably used more than the 2 cups suggested.  I didn't measure it.  Finally, I added 1 c of black beans.  I had them leftover from another dish and thought it would be a good way to use them up.

Do you know what?  Blockette didn't even complain once that there were black beans in this dish.  (Insert fist pump here.)


Fiesta Turkey Hotdish adapted from Plain Chicken
3 cup cooked chopped turkey
1 cup medium grain rice (uncooked) (if you use instant rice, reduce first cook time to 30 minutes)
1 can cream of garlic and mushroom soup
1 can mild Rotel diced tomatoes and chiles, undrained
1 Tbsp Arizona Dreaming or Taco Spice
3/4-1 c milk
1 c black beans
2 cups shredded cheddar and colby jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup crushed Nacho flavored tortilla chips (I used generic Doritoes)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine chicken, rice, soup, Rotel, seasoning, milk, beans and 1 1/2 cups of cheese.  Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.  Cover and bake for 50 minutes.  Gently stir to make sure all the liquid has absorbed. It will look a bit soupy before you stir it.Top casserole with crushed chips and remaining cheese, bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.