Sweet Potato and Rice Casserole

Sweet Potato and Rice Casserole (from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings: 6, Total Time: 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         2 cups water

·         1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped (1 ½ cups)

·         1 cup uncooked long grain brown rice

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

·         1 ½ cups frozen sweet soybeans (edamame), thawed

·         1 cup shredded taco cheese

·         1 8 oz. carton sour cream

·         1 4 oz. can diced green chile peppers, undrained

·         ¼ cup chopped green onions

·         2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

·         1 Tbsp. snipped fresh sage

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         ½ tsp. salt

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium saucepan, bring water to boiling. Stir in sweet potato, rice, and ½ tsp. salt. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

2.       Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine black beans, soybeans, ½ cup of the cheese, the sour cream, chile peppers, green onions, flour, sage, garlic, and ½ tsp. salt. Stir in rice mixture.

3.       Transfer mixture to an ungreased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until heated through.

This dish was pretty simple to make and had a nice mix of textures, but it looked nothing like the picture on the website (mine was way creamier).  The edamame stayed crunchy and the black beans were firm against the creaminess of the sour cream, cheese, and rice.  Each bit was smooth and rich with the taste of sour cream and cheese, but not overly.  I also liked the varying chunks of sweet potato that I got and will probably add more the next time I make the dish.  The only changes that I made to the above were no green onions (we didn’t have any) and using dried sage (1 tsp.) instead of fresh.