Rice Con Queso (Wendy and Susan)

Ingredients
3 cups cooked brown rice (1 + ½ cups uncooked)
1 + ½ cups cooked black beans (1/3 cups uncooked black beans, soaked overnight and cooked for the same time that the rice takes, drained) A can of black beans, drained and rinsed, is also fine. Recently we have been varying the proportions of rice to beans
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
A little olive oil
1 small can chilis, chopped. We use 2-3 tbsp of “hoagie spread”, finely chopped hot peppers available in a tall jar in the grocery store. Adjust amount according to your desire for hotness.
½ lb part skim ricotta, thinned with skim milk or plain yogurt
¾ pound shredded Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until transparent.
Mix rice, beans, onions, garlic, pepper spread.
Separately, mix the thinned ricotta with the Jack cheese.
Oil the casserole.
Starting and ending with a layer of the rice mixture, alternate layers of the rice mixture with layers of the cheese mixture.
Bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven at 350 for 45 minutes.
During the last few minutes of baking, sprinkle Cheddar on top.

Implements
Ovenproof casserole

Comments
From Frances Moore Lappe’s Diet for a Small Planet, with our annotations
Great for pot lucks and for eating outdoors in the sukkah. Tasty either piping hot or lukewarm.