Cheesy Mexican Beans and Rice

I've been wanting to try a beans and rice dish for the longest time now. I've always held back though, because hubs is very anti-meatless. I can get him to eat a meatless meal every now and again, but to go meatless on a regular basis...unh-unh. I'd get called out on it sooo fast! I made the mistake last summer of telling him that we were having meatless Monday each week. Each Monday he would come home from work with a bad attitude towards the meal, and would of course "hate" it and end up eating a bologna sandwich. Kind of defeats the purpose of frugal cooking if he's going to make something else anyways. So now I just don't tel him what I'm making. And although I'm sure he notices the absence of meat, he never says anything negative. He actually told me that this was good. He didn't want it in our regular rotation, but he liked it. I, however, loved it! I thought it was great! So go ahead and whip this up for your next meatless meal, I'm willing to bet your family won't have any complaints!

Ingredients...

...1 cup uncooked rice
...1 can black beans (or 1 2/3 cup if you cook your own beans up)
...1 large onion, chopped
...1 T. olive oil
...14 oz. Pasta or Tomato Sauce
...2 tsp. chili powder
...1/4 tsp. salt
...Shredded Cheese

Directions...

In a saucepan, cook rice according to package directions. In a skillet, saute onions in olive oil. In a medium bowl stir together beans, sauteed onions, pasta or tomato sauce, chili powder and salt. Stir in Rice. Pour into a greased 2 quart oven safe baking dish and top with a few handfuls of shredded cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.