Oh She Glows Crowd-Pleasing Tex-Mex Casserole

This casserole was the first Oh She Glows recipe I had ever tried. My neighbour Angela had The Oh She Glows Cookbook and as she was telling me about it, I was flipping through and I saw the recipe and thought I had to try it.

Full disclosure, we are not vegan. And my intense love for cheese and dairy would make that very difficult, but we try to eat less meat than previously. The Oh She Glows recipes take care to add veggie proteins often. I struggle to get eat enough protein in general so it’s nice that she makes it easy. Now as a non-vegan, certain foods I just cannot completely adapt to (namely the vegan shredded cheese). I also enjoy more chips and cheese on top of my casserole. This casserole has become one of the favourites in our home and is a definitely “go to”.

Now the recipe is “Crowd Pleasing”. That is a pseudonym for HUGE!!! It’s easily serves 10 adults. In the cookbook it says 6. It must be 6 of Angela’s hungriest friends. I’ve served it to friends and their kids when the came over for dinner and with four adults and 6 small kids (under 5) we only finished half. This time I made the full recipe but split it into one 9×9 pan and a casserole dish as I was bringing one to my friends place for dinner tomorrow. I would half this recipe if making it for any less than 7 people. In full form it fills my biggest casserole dish which is a deep Le Cruset 9×13 size, and I only use when feeding a crowd. You can make it a day ahead and reheat to serve.

If you are thinking of buying these cookbooks by Angela Liddon, I highly recommend you do. I’ve tried several dishes and I know Lauren has as well and they have become favourites.

Oh She Glows Cookbook Crowd-Pleasing Tex-Mex Casserole

Tex-Mex Spice

• 1 Tbs chilli powder
• 2 tsp cumin (Angela’s recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp, but I really like cumin)
• 1tsp paprika (again recipe as written calls for 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika or 1/2 tsp regular)
• 1 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt

Angela’s recipe calls for 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and ground coriander but I didn’t have any on hand so I made the above substitutions.

• 3 cups of uncooked brown rice and water necessary to cook in preferred method
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 red onion diced (I’ve also made this with white onion but red is noticeably better)
• 1 orange bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green pepper (not in original recipe but she has an optional jalapeño that I skipped due to small children not liking too much spice)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup frozen corn (recipe calls for 1/2 cup)
• 1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato paste (recipe calls for tomato sauce or purée but I sub this in)
• 2-3 cups spinach (or baby kale)
• 1 (15oz) can of black beans
• 1 cup shredded cheese (recipe calls for 1/2 cup vegan cheese but more real cheese is better in my opinion)
• 2-4 handfuls of tortilla chips, crushed(recipe calls for 1-2)

First things first, get that rice cooking. I cook it in the rice cooker so for my timing, I start on the rest of the recipe ten or so minutes later. Cook 3 measured cups uncooked, which grows in volume when cooked. I used regular brown rice but she suggests that you can use a wild rice blend as well. It takes about 20 minutes to cook the rest, so roughly 20 minutes before your rice is done, get started.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Make the spice blend and set aside. Oil your preferred dish so it’s ready to go when the rest is ready.

In a large pan, add oil, garlic, onion, bell peppers and jalapeño(if you walk on the wild side) and sauté until the veggies are just starting to soften. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the corn, tomatoes, tomato paste, spinach, beans and bring almost to a boil. The recipe says to add the rice and sauté for a few minutes, but for some reason when I do this my corn is always cold in the end. By now the rice should be cooked so dump that in too and stir until evenly mixed.

Pour into the dish of your preference and level until even. Crush the chips and sprinkle over casserole and load up with cheese! Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 375.

Now here is the best part, load it up with toppings, avocado and sour cream are my favourite! My kids love extra chips and cheese. Green onions and salsa would also be very nice!

Jess