Barb's Favorite Spanish Rice Casserole

Put 3 tablespoons oil in saucepan. Let it heat about a minute, until it's hot but not smoking.

When oil is hot, add the reserved onions, peppers, and garlic and sauté over medium high heat until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. The onions will be nearing translucent, but nothing should be getting brown. Peppers will turn a bright green. Turn off burner.

Begin preheating oven to 350°F

When rice is done, add it to the skillet with the onion mixture. Add tomatoes, salt, and two tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese to the skillet and mix well. Then crumble half the bacon into small pieces over the skillet and add to mixture. Mix everything well.

Pour Spanish rice mixture from skillet into 2-quart casserole. You can use a round one as I have, or you can use a shallow baking dish if you prefer. Spread mixture evenly on top.

Sprinkle the cheddar cheese evenly over the top surface. If you use the shallow dish, you might want to use more cheese on top, since there is more top surface.

Then sprinkle remaining Parmesan over top.

Crumble the rest of the bacon into small pieces and distribute it as evenly as possible over cheeses.

Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until Spanish rice is bubbly. The shallow dish will take less time than the round casserole such as the one I have used.

I like to serve this with green salad or bean salad and a loaf of crusty bread.