Right here’s a contemporary spin on wild rice casserole! It’s broccoli cheese taste, simple to make, and a wholesome spin that’s heavy on complete meals.

Right here’s a contemporary spin on wild rice casserole that’s cozy and all about complete meals! Why relegate this wholesome complete grain solely to wild rice soup? There are a lot extra methods to serve it, and this one is really spectacular. It’s broccoli cheese taste, flecked with savory bits of broccoli, gooey white cheddar, and a creamy easy-to-make filling. Whereas it’s received a vaguely 1970’s vibe, this one is all complete meals and heavy on the vegetation. (Nope, there’s no cream of mushroom soup!) Able to get cooking?

What’s on this wild rice casserole?

This broccoli cheese wild rice casserole is all about consolation meals! On the identical time, Alex and I’ve tried to maintain a wholesome spin: it’s received all complete meals, simply sufficient cheese, and no wealthy roux sauce. Right here’s what we’ve received on this vegetarian and gluten-free casserole:

• Good Wild Rice: Right here we’ve used our favourite methodology of cooking this grain, simmered with vegetable broth, onion and celery. It comes out completely moist and tender!
• Broccoli: It’s chopped into small florets and sauteed merely on the stovetop with a couple of spices. It’s our favourite option to eat it as a facet dish: which we stole right here for this casserole!
• Bitter Cream: Who needs to soiled one other pan to make a cheese sauce? You’ll stir bitter cream proper into the rice to make it creamy. When you’ve got it available, you would additionally use Creme Fraiche.
• White Cheddar Cheese: A sharp white cheddar cheese is ideal right here. You should utilize aged cheese to get much more taste.
• Parmesan Cheese: Including shredded Parmesan brings excellent proper complexity!

Do you know wild rice isn’t actually…rice?

Do you know that wild rice will not be truly rice? (Thoughts blown, proper?) It’s truly the seed from a local grass that grows in lakes and streams within the Northern US and Canada. However because it appears to be like loads like rice, wild rice is handled as rice in most cuisines! Wild rice was an necessary staple to Native Individuals within the higher Nice Lakes space of the US. I’m from Minnesota initially, so wild rice was a part of the heritage and historical past of the place I lived rising up!

Wild rice vs brown rice

Although they’re not really associated, wild rice is usually in comparison with brown rice. They’re typically served in comparable methods, and wild rice is a superb substitute for rice (like in a wild rice casserole!). Is wild rice more healthy than brown rice? Right here’s how they stack up:

• Wild rice has much less energy than brown rice, about 66% much less! 1 cup of cooked wild rice has 166 energy and 1 cup brown rice has 248 energy. (Supply)
• Wild rice has barely extra protein than brown rice. 1 cup cooked wild rice has 6.5 grams protein vs 5.5 grams in brown rice. (Supply)
• Each wild and brown rice have the identical quantity of fiber, about Three grams per 1 cup cooked.

Make forward ideas!

Wild rice takes about 45 to 55 minutes to cook dinner…which is why Alex and I used to keep away from it in our recipes! However we’ve discovered it’s completely definitely worth the time. To make this wild rice casserole critically easy to prep, right here’s what you are able to do:

• Make the wild rice prematurely. Make the rice prematurely and refrigerate till serving! The day of serving, combine it with the recent broccoli in a bowl, which ought to reheat it.
• The day of, make the broccoli whereas the oven preheats. Saute the broccoli whereas the oven is preheating, then combine it with the wild rice to reheat it.

The right way to serve wild rice casserole

This wild rice casserole will be served as a facet dish or a vegetarian and gluten-free dinner essential dish! What may you serve with it to make it right into a meal? Listed here are some concepts:

• Lemony Steamed Inexperienced Beans These zesty steamed inexperienced beans are the epitome of a straightforward facet dish: they take simply 10 minutes to place collectively.
• Finest Ever Sauteed Mushrooms This wild rice casserole doesn’t have mushrooms, so why not serve them as a facet! They’re meaty and would add a pleasant distinction.
• Fennel Orange Salad Right here’s a refreshing and straightforward facet dish: fennel orange salad! It pairs juicy orange and the delicate licorice essence of fennel with a citrus French dressing.
• Need extra? Listed here are our Finest Aspect Dishes.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

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