Mexcian-style Workout Casserole

Edited August 2007
Why "workout" casserole? Because we workout at 4:30 daily and that seriously cuts into my cooking prep time. Add to that 2-3 nights a week of evening activities and you get a pretty good idea how important it is to have dinner ready when we walk in the door at 5:30-5:45 so we can be out the door again by 6:30. I apologize for the less than beautiful photo, I put the spoon in to serve before I remembered to take a picture. This is my attempt at tidying it up.

1 1/2 cups white short or medium grain rice (raw)
scant 3 cups water
approx 1 cup frozen corn
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro OR "mexican" diced tomatoes (not drained)
7.5 oz chorizo uncooked, broken into pieces OR other raw ground meat including sausage
1 14.5 oz can black beans, drained OR pinto beans, refried beans etc.
dash red pepper flakes to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2-2 cups shredded jack, cheddar or other cheese.
Optional:
add chili powder, salt and other seasonings (cumin comes to mind) after the rice and water

Layer ingredients in round casserole in order listed. DO NOT STIR. Bake at 350-400 for 1 hour covered. serve with green salad.