All I’m craving these days is comfort food. I want it cheesy, I want it hot, and I want it filling. In other words, I am pretty much living off of casseroles at the moment.
The other day when I saw some condensed cream of portabella mushroom soup in the new items section at Trader Joe’s, I knew that I wanted to use it in a casserole. Cream of mushroom soup is made for casseroles.
If you don’t want to use a prepackaged soup in this recipe you can go ahead and make some from scratch. I hear it’s easy, but the convenience of a can has always won me over. What can I say, I’m lazy.
Like many traditional rice casseroles, this recipe pairs sharp cheddar cheese and broccoli, a famously delicious flavor combo. Unlike a more traditional recipe, this version gets a healthy boost by using brown rice instead of white for more whole grains. Also, to cut back on the sodium of prepackaged mushroom soup I’ve only use one box of the soup and supplemented with and nonfat sour cream and milk to get a nice creamy consistency. I also added some veggie sausage to this recipe to up the protein factor, that way I can eat a serving along with a side salad and call it a meal. If you eat meat, use real sausage, and if you are vegetarian but not into soy products, just skip it all together. It will still be a creamy and comforting side.
- 3 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 cups raw broccoli florets
- 1 shallot diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced (I used yellow)
- 1 container condensed mushroom soup
- 2 sausages sliced (I used Tofurky Italian)
- 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- ½ cup nonfat sour cream
- Milk of your choice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 375
- In a pan, saute onions and brown sausage
- Combine all ingredients except for ½ cup of the cheese in a large mixing bowl
- Add milk if needed to reach a creamy consistency
- Place rice mixture in a greased 9×13 baking dish and top with remaining cheese
- Bake for 30 minutes until mixture is bubbly
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This looks so yummy Ayah! I’m totally on a comfort food kick too – and melted cheese on anything right now makes me a happy lady. I’m going to try this dish and your slaw soon!!
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