12-14: Brown Rice Casserole doesn’t sound very appetizing, but it is very cheap to make and very filling. I made this dish before I took a trip as a meal prep and it really helped me keep my eating in check. ✅
As advertised on the card, this dish is hearty enough to be a meal in itself. I did eat it with a side of pepperoni slices, but the majority of the meal was this casserole. 🌾
To follow the recipe, I cooked the brown rice on the stove top. I would usually toss the rice and liquid into our rice cooker and press the “Brown Rice” button. Ain’t the future grand? This rice cooker is not quite a Jetsons level food replicator, but it’s pretty darn close to push button cooking.
(Editor’s note: Did anyone else notice that the front of the card classifies it as Group 12: Pasta and Rice and the back of the card classifies it as Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes?)
Ingredients shot, featuring the mushroom seasoning cube that I used to cook the rice.
Washing and draining the rice really makes a difference in the final product.
I hit the seasoning cube with a little water and starting mixing the bouillon into a paste.
I mixed the paste into the boiling water to create a mushroom broth.
In a sauté pan, I heated the oil and added the white onions and green onions.
When the onion is soft, add in the peppers and celery and mushrooms. The recipe only called for red, but I added a green one because I had an extra one in the fridge.
When it all cooked down, it looked like a big vegetable heap. It gets better, but not by much. 🙄
Here’s a shot of the rice just before it’s all done.
Now we add all the things to the rice. The vegetables go into the pot, along with raisins, chopped almonds, and mango chutney.
A photo of the final product. I dished this into a large storage container and brought it with me on a trip. Every day for lunch, I would pack a portion and bring it with me for a filling, homemade lunch every day. A good shot of hot sauce and a side of pepperoni make a good meal.
GRADE: B+
