Spicy was the thing for me during the summer and this casserole was just another hot-ticket in my food arsenal. It has a certain new pepper in it that I have never had before and totally spiced things up like no one’s business. I decided to make something easy for my next to last week in San Antonio and spicy veggies and rice was just the thing to keep me eating as healthy as possible during the busy days of ending work and packing. Here is my vegan and gluten-free Spicy Fajita Casserole.

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Well, I had made this totally spicy casserole, which isn’t a normal casserole, the week before I had left but didn’t get a chance to post it. This is so amazingly good, and so spicy I was sucking in my breath after most bites! I hadn’t realized that hatch chilis, which are really popular at San Antonio grocery stores, were so spicy. They put those hatch’s into anything you can think of but I had never tried them so I figured I since I was leaving, why not give ’em a shot. One chili, to me, is the equivalent two large jalapenos heat-wise. And Texas has some dang hot jalapenos to begin with! Yeesh! And this isn’t a normal casserole as in with cheese and being baked for an hour; it’s a casserole in that it’s full of veggies and rice and yummy sauce. Feel free to add some cheese, I mixed in a little leftover Daiya mozz and yum!, if you want or a little creamy avocado. It’s all good!

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To begin, start with the rice. I just followed the package directions and used the liquid from the can and water, added garlic powder and onion slices and cooked. Easy and not overly flavorful if you were to eat it alone. You don’t need any extra spices in this dish since the veg will be spicy enough. While the rice is doing its thing, Turn on your skillet or large pan and pour in a little vegetable stock – no oil in this dish to saute, just stock. Dice your tomatoes into small pieces and chop your onion then dump everything into the pan and mince in the garlic. Add more veg stock as the veggies progress to add liquid – I used about 1 – 1/2 cups; it will cook out and not be too liquidy. Chop the peppers and zucchinis then add and then sprinkle with 3 tablespoons homemade fajita seasoning and mix. With gloved hands, slice the hatch chili in half then scrape out the seeds of one of the halves, then chop the pepper into small bits and add to pan. Chop the mushrooms then add to the pan with the rest of the fajita seasoning and mix well. Let cook until mushrooms are getting soft then add the beans and zest and juice of limes. Mix then add in the cornstarch (following the directions on the container) to start thickening up the sauce. Let cook then portion out. Enjoy!

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Tomato Rice

1 C Brown Rice
1 Can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
Sprinkle of garlic powder and dried onion slices

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Spicy Fajita Casserole

5 Tomatoes, washed and diced
1 Red Onion, chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 C Low-Sodium Vegetable Stock
2 Red Peppers, washed, seeded and chopped
2 Zucchinis, washed and chopped
1 Hatch Chili, washed, half seeded and chopped
1 Pkg Whole Mushrooms, washed and chopped
4 Tbsp Homemade Fajita Seasoning
2 Limes, zested and juiced
1 Can Kidney Beans, washed
1 Can Black Beans, washed

1. Bring water, tomatoes, and seasonings to a boil then pour in rice. Cook as directed.
2. In large pan pour about 1/4 cup veg stock and heat. Chop tomatoes and onion then drop in and begin to saute.
3. Mince in garlic and stir.
4. Chop peppers and zucchinis then dump in.
5. Add 3 Tbsp fajita seasoning and mix. Turn up heat to high and start boiling.
6. Slice hatch chili in half then carefully scrape out seeds of one half. Chop the hatch into small pieces then dump into pan and mix.
7. Chop mushrooms then drop in and add last of fajita seasoning and mix.
8. Cook until mushrooms are just getting soft then drain and rinse beans. Add beans and zest and juice in the limes. Mix well.
9. In a cup stir 1 tbsp cornstarch with a little water then stir into veggies. Let cook until just thickening.
10. Portion out rice into containers then add in veggies.
11. Enjoy!