Cheesy Taco Casserole

I love anything "taco" and anything "casserole" and found this on Pinterest (of course). I gave my dad some because he is a vegatarian and he really liked it! I like to spice mine up a bit and play around with the spices and this is a very easy base recipe to do that with!

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Yields: 12 Heary squares

Ingredients

• 2  cups cooked rice (cook 1 c dry rice with 2 c water for a 2 c rice yield)
• 12  ounces salsa
• 2  tablespoons  taco seasoning (about 1/2 packet of commercially prepared taco seasonings, or the whole packet if you want extra tac)
• 1  cup sour cream
• 2  cups cheese, shredded
• 1⁄2 cup cheese, shredded

• optional

•  1 c diced veggies such as carrot, bell peppers, olives, mushrooms, onions (whatever you add to tacos)

• optional

•  beans (red, black, pinto, etc or use salsa that is corn and bean based)

Directions

1. After cooking the rice, combine all the other ingredients with the rice in a large bowl and stir until combined.
2. Pour mixture into a foil-lined 9 x 13 pan.
3. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 shreeded cheese on top.
4. Bake at 375 F for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until cheese and the top is beginning to brown.
5. *If you added extra beans, veggies, or your salsa was watery, this could lengthen cooking time.
6. Allow casserole to rest and cool for about 10 minutes to make slicing easier.
7. ~ Store leftovers in fridge or freeze squares in individual sized containers in the freezer for your a homemade, fast, “tv dinner”.