Chiles and Cheese

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Chiles & Cheese (aka Rice, Chiles, and Cheese)

An Erowid favorite.

Proportions of rice to sour cream to cheese vary each time.

Ingredients

3 cups uncooked brown rice
24oz sour cream
1-2 lb monterey jack
.5-1.5 lb sharp cheddar
salt, pepper
mild chile powder or paprika
1 large 27oz can green chiles 
Casserole dish

Instructions

Mix chiles, sour cream, .5 to 2 tablespoons of black pepper, a dash or two of salt. Let mixture sit while rice is cooking.

Cook rice with just slightly less water than usual, to leave it a tiny bit dry. Very slightly undercooked is better than overcooked.

Chop the green chiles into medium chunks, don't dice too small.

When rice is finished, mix with sour cream mixture. Put the sour cream and chile mixture into the larger bowl and slowly add the rice. The final mixture should not be dry, sometimes you'll want to use a little less than the 3 cups of uncooked rice.

Layer rice+sour cream+ chiles mixture into casserole dish, alternating with sliced or grated monterey jack cheese with sprinkles of cheddar between each layer. Use the remaining cheddar for the top layer, sprinkle with chile powder/paprika.

Cook 400F for 40 minutes or until top is bubbling and brown.

Ingredient Comments

Green chiles: Our current favorite brand is Ortega, but any decent brand is fine. The quality of canned green chiles goes all over the place, from mushy and tinny to firm and flavorful.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with salsa and salad with a sharp dressing.

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2015 December Trial :

Went with 1/3 wild rice. Slop mixed with rice, not layered, but cheese layers.

Two red bell peppers sliced, and browned lightly in a sautee pan, then layered.

Tried one recipe with full milk 'greek' (thick) yogurt. Came out pretty darn good, given that it's 1/3 the calories and has more protein per fat. I think it kind of 'broke' while cooking, so the consistency is grainier than the sour cream type. The extra sour in the yogurt is good.

Normaler variant with the wild rice added and red peppers : 8.5 / 10

Yogurt variant with too little Monterey Jack (by accident): 7.5 / 10 ? 7?