By March 2020. Everything changed this week. I am writing this on a Sunday and there are no people outside. The streets are quiet in a way that streets are not supposed to be on a Sunday afternoon in a city. COVID-19. Pandemic. The word feels impossible and real at the same time, the way certain words are when history uses them.
The university has gone online. My classes are now screens and video calls. The daycare where I work has closed. I am furloughed, they told me Friday, for at least six weeks, maybe more, depending on what happens. I have some savings, more than I have ever had, eight months of an emergency fund I have been building carefully. I am scared but I am not panicking. Those are different things. I know the difference from harder times.
I went to the grocery store on Thursday before the weekend and it was unsettling: empty shelves in some sections, lines that went out the door, a particular kind of civic anxiety in the air. I bought what I could carry, focusing on things that last: dried beans, rice, canned tomatoes, flour, oil, sugar, yeast. The things you can build from. The things Gloria would buy.
I came home and cooked. I made a pot of red beans and rice, long and slow, the apartment filling with the smell of something familiar and good, and I sat at my kitchen table with Biscuit next to me on the chair and I thought: I know how to do this. I know how to take simple things and make them into enough. I have been learning this my whole life. I know how to do this.
That pot of red beans and rice reminded me of something I already knew but needed to feel again: that pantry cooking is not deprivation, it is skill. A few days later I made this Green Chili Rice Casserole with what I had on hand — rice, canned green chilis, a little sour cream — and it came out warm and satisfying in a way that felt almost defiant. If the shelves were going to be unpredictable, I was going to get very good at cooking from what I could carry home.
Green Chili Rice Casserole
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain white rice, cooked
- 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilis, undrained
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter, for greasing
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish with butter.
- Mix the filling. In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, diced green chilis, sour cream, 3/4 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir until evenly combined.
- Transfer to dish. Spread the rice mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.
- Top with cheese. Sprinkle the remaining Monterey Jack and the cheddar cheese evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 35–40 minutes, until the casserole is heated through and the cheese on top is melted and lightly golden at the edges.
- Rest and serve. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm as a main dish or hearty side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 420mg