Mexican rice and bean casserole

I made this Mexican rice and bean casserole tonight. Highly recommend this though there are a couple things I would note:

1. I added chicken to give it some more protein. Most of the cooking is done in your skillet/on the stove than in the oven so if you go this route add the chicken in when you add in your rice ingredients.

2. I used brown rice for this because my grocery store doesn't carry converted rice. It takes much longer to cook and absorb most of the water content so expect your cook time to go from 25 minutes to more like an hour on the stove.

3. Would suggest adding black beans instead of kidney beans. For me this is just a texture preference. I did end up using kidney beans and while it's not bad by any means I believe black beans would probably fit better.

4. I suggest using a smaller oven pan. Mine is a little larger than normal and spreads the casserole a little more thinly than I think is desirable.

bon appetit