Lower-Fat Cheesy Green Chile Rice

by Dorothy Reinhold on February 22, 2014


Print This Post Print This Post Lower-Fat Cheesy Green Chile Rice | www.ShockinglyDelicious.com

When the oven is on because I am baking something, I usually look around to see if there is something else I can bake as well, to be efficient.

A few times a year I crave this comforting, cheesy chile rice dish, and I usually have everything on hand for it so I can pop it into the oven easily. With leftover rice, it stirs up in just a minute, and offers eating pleasure far in excess of the effort put into it.

It is more than the sum of its parts.

When the people at Kerrygold sent me a package of excellent cheese, and asked if I could lighten up one of my favorite cheesy dishes by using their Reduced Fat Dubliner, I knew exactly which recipe to pull out.

Serve it as a side dish for dinner, or all by itself as a bowl of comfort for lunch.

Lower-Fat Cheesy Green Chile Rice | www.ShockinglyDelicious.comIt’s all about food and mood.

Recipe: Dorothy’s Lower-Fat Cheesy Green Chile Rice

Lower-Fat Cheesy Green Chile Rice | www.ShockinglyDelicious.comSummary: Cheesy rice, spiced with green chiles, garlic and cumin, and topped with a smoky dusting of paprika, is a comforting side dish or lunch.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice; this = about 1 1/2-1 2/3 cup cooked brown rice
  • 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles (I used Hatch chiles I had roasted and frozen from September)
  • 1 cup light sour cream (Daisy brand preferred) (I have also used Karoun Lite Labne Kefir Cheese with great results)
  • 1 (7-ounce) package Kerrygold Reduced-Fat Dubliner cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided use
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • Grinding of black pepper
  • Garnish: Smoked paprika or regular paprika

Instructions

  1. Cook rice according to directions on package. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9- by 5-inch baking dish (loaf pan) with nonstick spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, chiles, sour cream, cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, oregano, cumin, garlic, onion powder and a few grindings of black pepper. Turn mixture into prepared dish, and sprinkle top with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan and a sprinkling of paprika, if you are using it.
  3. Bake 60 minutes, until casserole is toasty brown on top.
  4. Serves 4-5.
  5. (Chile heads may wish to add a splash of hot sauce to their dish.)

The cheese

Kerrygold Reduced Fat Dubliner Cheese on Shockingly DeliciousDubliner is the flagship cheese of the Kerrygold brand, and the reduced-fat version has all of the flavor with 30 fewer calories and 33% less fat per 1-ounce serving. That works for me! If you’ve never tried Dubliner, now is a good time. Here is their description of this complex cheese: “It has a natural hint of sweetness, elements of a mature Cheddar, the deep, nutty taste of a Swiss and the piquant bite of an aged Parmesan. It is at once crumbly yet creamy with the aromas of fresh-baked bread layered with fresh buttermilk.” Swoon. All Kerrygold cheeses and butter is made in Ireland with milk from grass-fed cows that are never given growth hormones. The cows are raised on small family farms (average herd size is 60).

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hours
Diet type: Vegetarian
Diet tags: Gluten free
Number of servings (yield): 4-5
My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 

Disclosure: Kerrygold sent the cheese for recipe development.

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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }

Lauren @ Hall Nesting September 29, 2017 at 12:12 pm

I love this cheese! I honestly have never tried it with a green chile rice though! Sounds like I have a side for dinner tonight!

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Art from My Table September 29, 2017 at 8:50 am

I’m excited to try this! Love that you gave it a low fat makeover!

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Carolyn Ingram September 28, 2017 at 9:17 pm

I can’t wait to try this recipe! Yum!

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Serena | Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch September 28, 2017 at 5:34 pm

I’m putting this on the dinner menu! It looks perfect for a crisp fall day!

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Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) September 27, 2017 at 3:49 pm

I gotta try this cheesy rice dish this fall!!

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Dorothy Reinhold September 27, 2017 at 6:40 pm

Jocelyn,
You do, you do! It’s such an all-purpose dish!

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Allyson Zea September 27, 2017 at 12:42 pm

Oh I can’t wait to try this for dinner!!!! YUM!

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Nutmeg Nanny September 27, 2017 at 8:11 am

This looks like the perfect rice dish!

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Miryam Quinn Doblas September 27, 2017 at 5:15 am

Such a great version of green chile rice. Loving all the cheese in it.

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Delaney | Melanie Makes September 26, 2017 at 6:40 pm

This is the perfect weeknight dinner!

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Amanda September 26, 2017 at 5:46 pm

I love lightened up comfort foods!

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Jen September 26, 2017 at 3:54 pm

I love how you lightened this up! I crave this at times too but have been trying to eat not as heavy.

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Susan September 27, 2014 at 2:55 pm

This was shockingly delicious!! I made some substitutions, which all worked out extremely well. I did not use rice, instead I used 1.5 cups of cooked wheat berries and 1 cup of cooked brown lentils. I also substituted 1/2 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt for the sour cream and used skim-milk mozzarella instead of cheddar. This recipe is a keeper!

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Dorothy Reinhold September 28, 2014 at 3:57 pm

Susan,
Fantastic! I love all your tweaks, and yep, I say use what you have hanging around. I adore wheat berries and lentils, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and sure, mozz instead of cheddar works. It’s ALL GOOD!

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Trish @infinebalance February 24, 2014 at 6:16 am

I love baked cheesy casseroles like this. Do you know if it freezes well? I’d love to have something like this stashed in the freezer for those nights when cooking is just not something I want to do 🙂

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold February 24, 2014 at 6:34 am

Trish,
We ate it for dinner and then lunch the next day, so didn’t attempt to freeze it.

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Shannon R February 23, 2014 at 9:47 am

Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering. This looks so very good, hard to believe it is low fat!

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Dorothy Reinhold February 23, 2014 at 10:03 am

Shannon,
You absolutely won’t know that it uses lower-fat sour cream and lower-fat cheese.

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Liz February 23, 2014 at 8:35 am

Thank you Dorothy for the nice recipe. Have a good weekend!

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Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) February 22, 2014 at 12:18 pm

With a freezer full of Hatch green chile, I’m all over this one. Sounds delicious Dorothy.

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Dorothy Reinhold February 22, 2014 at 1:56 pm

Lea Ann,
So glad to hear I am not the only one with Hatch in my freezer!

Reply

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