This Cheesy Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole Is Pure Comfort
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The last few weeks of the year were just a blur of beef, bone marrow, and a bȗche de Noël the size of an actual tree. It was all great fun, but now I’m ready to spend the next few weeks focusing on some good, vegetable-focused dishes, like this great-looking casserole full of broccoli and wild rice, which cooks in one pan and would make fantastic lunch leftovers.
You’ll need an oven-safe dish for this recipe, because it starts on the stove and finishes in the oven. It starts with a base of sautéed shallots and mushrooms, fresh thyme, and crushed red pepper. That base adds a ton of flavor to wild rice, which is toasted in the pan and then boiled until it’s nice and fluffy.
Once the rice is cooked, it’s time to add a ton of vegetables. Really, this recipe calls for three heads of broccoli and two cups of baby spinach. The goal seems to be getting as many vegetables as you can possibly fit in the pan, but still making it cozy and filling with some shredded cheddar and Gruyère cheese so it’s nice and rich and cheesy.
It’s a bit like broccoli-cheddar soup crossed with wild rice casserole, and it’s the sort of thing that works perfectly as a stand-alone dinner or as a side dish. It also sounds like it would make fantastic leftovers. As great as it would be as an entrée, I’m already fantasizing about using this recipe for make-ahead lunches throughout January and February. This cheesy broccoli and wild rice casserole is just the right combination of healthful and comforting for the middle of winter, and with a few lunches like this I’m pretty sure I’ll be the envy of the office break room.
Get the recipe: Broccoli Cheese Wild Rice Casserole from Half Baked Harvest
