this is my lunch at least once a week.
it’s simple.
i made it up.
i am sure others have thought of it….but when i say i made it up i mean that one day i was craving some spice
so i looked through our cupboard.
i had these ingredients and i threw them all together and ate it with chips.
yum.
rice…rotel…black beans….cheese…tabasco….chicken…chips.
i make one cup of rice in the microwave.
it takes five minutes.
my friend shana said “you make rice in the microwave?!” and i asked surprisingly “is there another way?”
neither of us had ever tried a different way from what we’d learned.
i learned how to make rice on my own…by reading the totally generic brand box microwave directions.
in our apartment…16 years ago.
i have never even looked to see if there was another set of directions on the box!
i am dorky like that.
when it’s ready then i pour everything in the rice bowl.
except i only use HALF the black beans.
i just put the other half of the can in the fridge for my second batch later in the week.
i use like…three? shakes of tabasco…maybe four.
and a hand full of cheese.
sometimes i warm it up for another two minutes.
but sometimes i don’t.
ONCE i had left over corn with cream cheese from the night before…i threw that in…oh yeah….it was delish.
i grab a bowl of chips and i eat till i am full 🙂
and that is it.
it’s good.
and easy.
and not THAT bad for you….i think….maybe the chips?
i am hungry.
i think i will go make some now.
also….i have wrapped it up in tortillas and eaten it that way.
and my friend would like to add LOTS of cilantro in hers…it is probably yummy…but i NEVER have cilantro…
so i can’t prove it.
enjoy.
Heidi Jo the Artist - I’m going to have to try this! I love about anything I can dip a tortilla chip into. 🙂 I’m a big fan of layering tortilla chips with cheese, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, olives and whatever else I have on hand that sounds good at the time! 🙂
Kristin S - Made this for dinner tonight with 1/2 the rice (first time EVER using instant rice), pepper jack cheese, and a TON of cilantro. YUM! Thanks for the post.
nicole - yuuum!! this looks incredible! 🙂
amanda - I found your blog through the top room redos thing and have been reading it ever since. You are so cute and I love the guest/playroom and have also made (and love) this concoction (for the past two days). Thanks for sharing!
Amanda
Martina - My mom always made minute rice (the microwave box kind) growing up. I never liked it that much. Then my Brazilian friend introduced me to regular rice cooked in a rice cooker. I got hooked! It takes longer but it’s just as easy and I much prefer the taste.
Lisa - Yummy! This looks awesome. I’m forwarding to my daughter who’s looking for easy (cheap!) meals to cook in college. This is perfect, plus the Rotel will give her a taste of home since she’s moved to the east coast from Texas.
Iris - I was at a loss of what to make for lunch so I tried your idea. I skipped the meat and the chips because I was too hungry to wait to prepare the chicken, and didn’t have any chips so I just added more rice and used a salsa sauce we got in Costa Rica. YUMM!!! Thanks so much for the idea. I could eat this several times a week too.
Amy - Thanks to this post, I am eating a yummy lunch today. I substituted salsa for the Ro-Tel though because smart old me didn’t read the directions closely. lol But still yummy.
Melissa - Tried it. {minus the meat} love it. Will be having for lunch again today!
Tammy @ The Sabourin Family - Oh YUMS! So bummed that I cannot find RoTel here in Canada. The Pioneer Woman has a recipe or 2 using it, also. Wonder what I can substitute it with? Thanks for the recipe and scrumptious photos.
Valerie @ Chateau a La Mode - I’m always looking for something to eat for lunch that is NOT a sandwich. I think I will have to try this….looks yummy.
Heather - Looks yummy!! I wanna eat it up with those scoops chips!
Just promise me you will NEVER add cilantro.
Unless you want it to taste soapy.
Because that is what cilantro adds- it tastes exactly like detergent. [shudder]
Emily Zimmerman - Hello! Looooove you blog!!! And I read all the time! You have me cracking up out loud! Love the new recipe! Can’t wait to try it out tomorrow for lunch. Those ingredients are staples in my house. Have you tried black bean corn salsa?? It’s black beans, corn, diced tomatoes with jalapenos, diced red and yellow pepper, diced red onion. Serve with chips…Yummy! Also try diced tomatoes with jalapenos, a package of cream cheese and sausage. Heat and serve with chips. You won’t be able to pull yourself away from the bowl 🙂 Enjoy!!
karen - Yum, I’m going to do this. I bet my 3 year old would like it too…with out the hot sauce.
Kristin S - Meg, awesome combo! My friends make fun of me for having this for dinner at least twice a week:
Pop tortilla in toaster oven – toast
Spread with 1/2 can rinsed/drained black beans and then some shredded cheese. Toast again.
Pile high a ton of romaine lettuce.
Sprinkle with sour cream and plain tomato salsa (I like Trader joe’s restaurant style)
I’m going to try yours next…
Kate - Yummy yummy! I would definitely add cilantro – and ya know what else? Hominy. Right from the can. That would give it a nice chewy chompiness….
the domestic fringe - That’s awesome! I’m going to make it. Thanks.
-FringeGirl
Kate - I ate so much of that the year we lived off campus in college that I can hardly stand the sight of it now. So. . . eat in moderation or you’ll never be able to even see it again! 🙂
Jess - Yummy. Just like Chipotle. I would definitely add lots of cilantro…it would make it SO much better. And maybe some avocado. Have you made PW restaurant salsa? So good. You might need some of that too. 🙂
Courtney Walsh - I do something similiar but never with chicken!! Hmmmm…thanks for the brilliant ideas!! 🙂
Candy - Yumm, yummy, yumm! I do almost the exact thing, but use a lot of sour cream and salsa instead of rotel!
barb - Hi Meg. Love your blog and check it daily 🙂 I was wondering how you like Typepad. I want to start my own blog to keep up-to-date with family and am checking my fav blogs to see what they use. And your my fav!
Thanks!!
jenn - Oh yum. I make something similar, but when I make it, I make a TON – grilled chix, some lime juice, cilantro, black beans, purple onions, cheddar and pepper jack cheese, brown rice, etc. and I make a TON – and buy three dozen tortillas, I stuff ’em, roll ’em, and wrap ’em up in saran wrap, and load ’em into the freezer, and wha-la – three dozen frozen lunches!!! When the husband takes them, by the time he eats lunch, they’re perfectly defrosted and ready to warm in the microwave. I highly recommend it!
Julie - I love how you are so hardcore that you can handle the awesome that is both Rotel and Tabasco. I am more of a Cholula girl myself. I could drink it with a straw, but have been know to occasionally cheat with some shakes of Tabasco.
Honestly, where have I been with this new fangled invention of microwave rice? For serious? No big pan on the stove and the thirty minutes of patience. Consider my world changed.
Yes. Cilantro. Then more cilantro. Adore. Even the cilantro Rotel is amazing.
Sarah - I would love that COLD, with LOTS of cilantro. You would love cilantro, I just know you would.
Katy - Looks DELISH! Except, I can’t do beans.. Yuck! Love love love when you post recipes. 🙂
Lindy Mint - Yes, but what’s for dessert?
sara @ it's good to be queen - okay, i am coming back to report. i bought the stuff this morning & am currently eating it…yummy yummy in my tummy. this is my new lunch of choice. 🙂 also, i microwaved rice for the first time ever….so liberating!
Flower Patch Farmgirl - This has my name written ALL over it. And I decided a very long time ago that tortilla chips aren’t nearly as bad as, say, a potato chip. No way. No can do. Just put it out of your head.
Ashley - I haven’t had that in years! Well, not in a non soup form anyway. Hahaha! I guess that’s what I’m doing with the leftover chicken from the other night. Mmmmmm. Thanks for the idea!
Kristen Chapman - Dude, that is going to be my lunch tomorrow. Sold.
Tara @ Tara Being Tara - We make something similar for dinner:
Put some (however many you want) frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot.
Add one bag of frozen corn, one can of salsa, a packet of taco seasoning, can of black beans and can of diced tomatoes.
Cook on low for 4 – 6 hours.
We eat it over rice, with chips, or even as a hearty “soup.”
katie - oh, i can picture myself throwin’ down on that, especially while on the computer(very dangerous to eat and blog)!!
jennifer - I love that meal! I’ve made it many times. SO easy and good!
Laura - Seriously, it scares me how much we have in common. I fix this all of the time as well, but I either use turkey smoked sausage or no meat. I make it exactly as you do, even with the ro-tel tomatoes. Yum! Sometimes I use brown rice, just depends on what is in the cabinet. Sometimes I saute onion and bell peppers before mixing together. Just depends on how much time I have.
Talysa - Is it lunchtime yet?!?!
I have two quick questions.
#1. Are you on Twitter?
#2. What size is your Africa print on mantle in your dining room? My husband went to Haiti last year and you gave me the perfect anniversary gift idea for him. Will hang in his home office. 🙂
Barbara - how do you handle the chicken part of the dish? leftover chicken breast? deli chicken? I don’t eat chips or rice, but i could easily see this being a delicious taco salad kind of thing… I would definitely add a nice fat blob of sour cream, though! yum!!
Jill - okay…first off this looks super yummy and I could prob eat it almost Every day! However, I feel as tho I should prob email you the rest of my comment *hangs head in shame* I have never made rice in the microwave. You totally lose me when you speak of this. Serious. I’m not kidding. It sounds like something I need to look in to… O_o
Keri - This sounds and looks yummy. I’m sure most of the people in our house would eat it. We love Mexican foods. I’m sure this would be yummy with taco seasoned ground beef too. Mmmmm. I think i’ll have to try this one evening.
Staci - YUM!!!! I haven’t had internet for a few days…and wow! You should see my house! Nice and organized! Should that telll me something???? ANyway, just wanted to say congrats to you on your last post!!! That’s soooooo exciting!!! You are going to do awesome!!! YAY MEGAN!!!!!! Now, off to make some rice….only I do it in my stove 🙂
mel - that lunch is right up my alley! i *love* nachos with my homemade hot sauce/salsa. it is my go to lunch. this would be a good change up from that though. i never think to make rice. and, i would definitely have cilantro. i even add it to salad. love it! and avocado! 🙂
Kyley Ochoa - Sounds DELISH!! I will have to try it with CILANTRO! I love CILANTRO!!!!! Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Beth - This is not a mean post….
Yuck…I am such a picky eater….now my husband would love this spicy dish since he loves hot foods…I will have to try this for him only though. I would have to fix the real rice as in the 25 minute rice…he can tell the difference.
Now I fix something like this but baiscally it is hamburger meat, cheese, sour cream and refried beans layered in a dish with my chips…I am sure you have heard of this before…
Well hope you don’t think this was ugly…I just like to tell the truth in anything I post…hehehe…but I am sure lots of others will love your dish. I still love your blog, Meg!
nic - that looks amazing. on a similar vein, i could do a taco salad seven days straight. yum!
Amber Pamper - I make something similar to this but I sautee it all up with onions, cumin, and cilantro. mmmmm. Then I make a quesadilla out of it. 🙂
tasha roe - this totally reminds me of my favorite thing to eat at fast food. does chipoltle or qudoba count as fast food? anyway…. it’s a nake burriot and it’s heavenly! chop up some cilantro and toss some corn and squeeze a lime. oh man….. i am hungry now!!!!
Amanda - totally like Chipotle burrito bowl. LOVE! thanks for the recipe. I forgot it was something we could make at home. duh!
Melissa - I knew I loved you! That recipe is right up my alley!!!!
Kelly - My favorite lunch is very, very similar to this. 🙂 Yummmmmy!
Maria - yum…I shouldn’t have read this before breakfast.
I have something similar..leftover chicken, leftover taco meat, plus cilantro if I have it on hand, and avocado…minus the beans. Sometimes I’ll throw it on a quesadilla and eat it like that.
Martha Stewart has a super easy stove top rice ‘perfect white rice recipe’ that I use all the time, in a huge non-stick pot…takes 15 mins for 3 cups…easy peasy. I did not like my rice cooker, so when it died, I never replaced it. Here’s the recipe if anyone cares to see it…
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/marthas-perfect-white-rice
Now off to find food…
jenn - Oh YUMMMM….now I’m going to have to go to the store and get the stuff to make your throw-together lunch. 🙂
Rachel - Well, okay then. I now know what Ro*Tel is. I’ve never seen that in Canada, but I’m sure we must have something similar here.
Thanks Google.
sarah - Yummo! I was thinking how good that would be on tortillas as I was reading through and then you mention it. Will for sure be giving this a try!
Rachel - Mmmm…sounds good. I’d definitely addnthe cilantro! But what’s rotel? I’ll google it.
CK - Yum! Add some sliced avocado in that and I would be hooked for life! Thanks for sharing.
Debby Graber - Megan, I do the same and it is my favorite! Except I add cheese on top to melt and fritos on top of that.
Nancy from the Chicago 'burbs - Yum, that looks so good. Thanks for a great idea.
Adrienne S - That is my go to lunch as well. I never make the rice because i only know how to make it on the stove and it takes 45 min. I guess I will have to check out microwave directions.
sara @ it's good to be queen - oh yum, this looks great. i’m adding all that stuff to my grocery list. yummmmmmm….
Kimberlee J. - A make your own Chipotle bowl, right? Yum. I’ll take cilantro…lots of it and a little lime please
Shana - LOTS of cilantro!
Tara - I have a very similar lunch that I do a few times a week…same except without the rice.
erica - I make a “Texas Caviar” that is similar to this w/ black beans, fiesta corn, Rotel (w/ lime & cilantro), avocado, and a few spices. So good on everything from chips & chicken to burgers & eggs…YUM!
Traci - looks good meg. i will have to give it a try. i have never made rice in the microwave. and yes…i would add lots of cilantro. my favorite herb.
Trish @TheOldPostRoad - My husband – who rarely cooks – makes something similar that we call Hoppin John. This week he used black beans and rotel instead of the usual redbeans and tomatoes. I need to tell him about the chicken, cheese, and chips.
-Trish
angela - I mean FETA makes everything Betta!
angela - I do something kinda’ like that but I use Feat cheese….’cause you know, Feta makes everything Betta!!! 🙂
Carla G. - Hi Meg! Question for you….totally unrelated to THIS post, but it does have to do with your next post. (I just thought you would see [read] the question faster if I posted it here….sorry, rambling….)
Where do you pick up your jewelry pieces? I ALWAYS LOVE the pieces you are wearing in your photos! I love, love, love the blue shirt, jeans, yellow shoes and mixed jewelry you have in your family photo….why can’t I do that? Help me please!!!
Jenny - This does look yummy.
I would definitely add cilantro (coriander, as we would call it). It is one of my favourite flavours.
I have never made rice in the microwave either – always on the stove.
Sonia - Hey Meg, one of my New Years goals is to try new recipes. I made this Chicken chili the other night and it was DELISH!! I got it from Kraft. Here’s a link to it…
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chunky-chicken-chili-112395.aspx
Gemma - Hi Meg!
This looks so yummy..will have to try and make the same kinda thing : )
Gemma x
Teresa - That looks wonderful…..
Dana@Bungalow'56 - This looks like something I could hunker down and eat in a beach house in San Diego ; )
Dana
Rebekah Brummel - Rice from the freezer (Archer Farms) is yummo