The Real Housewife of Santa Monica

Meatless Monday Wild Rice Casserole

How many Sunday nights have I found myself making promises? To myself.

“Starting tomorrow, I’m going to cut out all sugar.”

“Starting tomorrow, I’m going to do 100 crunches every morning.”

“Starting tomorrow, I’m going to finish _____________.” (Fill-in the blank with one of any countless unfinished projects.)

Screw that! I’m going to make one goal that’s easy to accomplish. I’m going to eat something healthy.

Here’s a simple, yummy recipe for “Meatless Monday.” I think I ate the whole thing myself.

You need:

Too bad, Libby!

INGREDIENTS
2 large eggs (I used egg replacer)
1 c cottage cheese
1/2 c sour cream
1 tsp Dijon style mustard
Salt
1 TBSP olive oil or unsalted butter
8 oz crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 c cooked wild rice (and/or brown rice) Btw: it’s a little embarrassing to reveal what a flake I am but I actually boiled 3 c of dry wild rice. Do you know how much COOKED rice that is? A ton. You are supposed to end up with 3 c of cooked rice. But if you do accidentally make a few vats of rice, just put it in some freezer Zip-locs and chuck it in the freezer for next time!
1/3 c grated Gruyere cheese
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon or thyme

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a medium-large baking dish with olive oil or butter. (I used an 8×11 casserole dish.)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, mustard, and a scant 1/2 tsp salt.

3. Heat olive oil over high heat in a large skillet with a pinch of salt.

Stir in mushrooms.
After stirring to coat with oil, leave mushrooms sautéing for about 5 minutes.

Continue cooking, stirring every couple of minutes.

4. Add onions to mushrooms & cook for another 4-5 minutes, until onions are translucent.

Add garlic, stir and cook for another minute. Remove pan from heat.

5. Add rice to skillet & stir.

6. Add rice mixture to the cottage cheese mixture and stir until combined.

7. Pour mixture into greased baking dish.

Sprinkle with two-thirds of the grated cheese and cover with aluminum foil.

Sometimes I don’t read the directions closely, so I added my tarragon at this point. I actually had fresh tarragon for the first time in my life, having just planted it in my backyard. Even though this is the wrong order, doesn’t this look delish?

Anyway, bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20-30 minutes, until the casserole is golden brown.

This is seriously so good! Serve with a green salad. I didn’t because I never have time to make more than one component. But I would! If this didn’t turn you on, stay tuned for REALLY easy chocolate cake. Remember my No Knead Bread? This is the No Knead Bread of Chocolate Cakes.

 

Here’s a gratuitous kids shot. Valentine’s Night.

 

Meatless Monday Wild Rice Casserole Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Tasty rice side dish that also serves well as a main with a leafy green salad!
Ingredients
  • 2 large eggs (or egg replacer)
  • 1 c cottage cheese
  • ½ c sour cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon or whole grain mustard
  • Sea salt
  • 1 TBSP olive oil or unsalted butter
  • 8 oz crimini mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 c cooked wild rice and/or brown rice (use whichever you have or a little of each!)
  • ⅓ c grated Gruyere cheese
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon or thyme

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a medium size baking pan with olive oil or butter.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, mustard and scant ½ tsp salt.
  3. Heat oil in large skillet with pinch of salt. Stir in mushrooms. Leave mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes undisturbed. After about 5 minutes, stir again every few minutes. Add onion to mushrooms, stir and cook until translucent for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Then remove skillet from heat.
  4. Add rice to skillet & stir to combine. Then add rice mixture to cottage cheese mixture and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle ⅔ of the cheese on top, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake another 20-30 minutes, until casserole is golden brown, especially around the edges.
  5. Serve with remaining cheese & tarragon or thyme.

Notes
The cook time includes 45-60 minutes to cook wild rice. You can also buy pre-cooked wild or brown rice to save time! If you buy pre-cooked rice, the cook time is about an hour for the baking and 10-12 minutes for sautéing veggies.

From Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day.



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2 comments on Meatless Monday Wild Rice Casserole

  1. Lib
    February 21, 2012 at 2:35 am (4517 days ago)

    I am making this for sure. Do you think subtracting the shrooms would hurt? lol You know I can’t have fungus… :) This looks AWESOME! And, kinda like the pic of my nieces too… :)

  2. Christina
    February 21, 2012 at 10:39 am (4517 days ago)

    I would try it w the mushrooms. You might be surprised. They soak up all the flavors and add a meatiness to it. But if you try it without em be sure to let me know how it goes!

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