As the grocery stores start to switch over their produce displays to fall foods, I find myself starting to want warm comfort food more and more. There’s something about pulling a dish of hearty, cheesy comfort food out of the oven as the weather starts to cool that makes everything better. It makes you forget the stress of the day, the lack of a long sunny evening, and the household chores that need to be done! This cheesy jalapeño rice bake with roasted squash and chicken is just the comfort food that this time of year calls for!
Hearty, warm, and packed with flavor! Butternut squash is roasted with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The edges crisp and the natural sweetness comes out pairing perfectly with the bell pepper and jalapeño flavors. Black beans and chicken give the bake a good source of lean protein. Oh, and there’s cheese. All good rice bakes have cheese both on top and stirred throughout!
The type of rice that is used is what makes this rice bake stand out. RiceSelect wants you to “Rethink Rice.” It doesn’t have to remain a tasteless side or a flavorless base for delicious toppings. It’s a versatile grain that can be the hero of the dish, and it is in this rice bake. Their Arborio Blend™ with Jalapeño is a gluten-free blend that adds a spicy kick to this dish. It also contains a hint of onion and garlic to give the fresh onion and garlic in this dish a flavor boost.
Not only does it taste good, but you can feel good feeding RiceSelect to your family. RiceSelect products are grown, milled, and packaged in the USA and are produced from non-GMO proprietary seed. Their varieties also include the signature Texmati® Rice and their new Arborio Blend™ with Mushrooms. Give them a try for yourself! You can find their products at these stores and online.
Want some more recipe inspiration and to save some money on RiceSelect products? Go now to the RiceSelect Rethink Rice campaign site and sign up for their monthly newsletter. You’ll get a $2 coupon just for signing up! While you’re there, enter for your chance to win a free Aroma 6-cup rice cooker and use #RethinkRice #sweeps to show your recipe creation for a chance to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card!
- 3 C butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 tsp salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 C chicken broth
- 1 C water
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 C cooked black beans
- 1/2 C red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 C onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 C RiceSelect™ Arborio Blend with Jalapeño
- 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 C cooked chicken, shredded
- Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- In a large bowl, toss squash with 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, nutmeg, and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Spread evenly on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender. Stirring halfway through baking time.
- Remove from oven to a wire rack.
- While squash is roasting, bring chicken broth, water, parsley, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a small saucepan.
- Once you get the chicken broth mixture started, drizzle remaining olive oil in a large frying pan with high sides. Add beans, pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until onion is translucent and peppers start to become tender. Carefully add in simmering chicken broth mixture. Stir in rice, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully transfer rice mixture from frying pan to prepared baking dish.
- Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. Bake for another 5-8 minutes or until cheese just starts to brown.
- Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
(The RiceSelect Hosted Sweepstakes ends/ended at midnight on December 18th.)
To help you “Rethink Rice,” BlogHer and RiceSelect are giving away a $100 Amazon Gift Card to one (1) lucky reader! Enter for a chance to win by simply leaving a comment below telling me how you would make rice the HERO of a dish.
Sweepstakes Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
- Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
- Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 10/6/14 – 11/3/14.
Be sure to visit the RiceSelect brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
Cindy
Wednesday 29th of January 2020
In Step 7 you should probably add - Add in butternut squash
Melissa M
Monday 10th of November 2014
https://twitter.com/618mom23boys/status/532022533684756480
Melissa M
Monday 10th of November 2014
I like to cook rice in water with beef bouillon cubes. Then I add cooked hamburger, corn and green beans to it. My kids LOVE it!
Annette
Monday 3rd of November 2014
https://twitter.com/ThatTuxedoCat/status/529434006496878592
Annette
Monday 3rd of November 2014
I'd would make rice the HERO of a dish by ccooking rice pudding.