Description
Our fabulous Whole Food Plant Based Veggie Rice Casserole is hearty and satisfying, healthy and delicious, made from scratch with fluffy rice and fresh broccoli. Yum!
Ingredients
Cream Base:
- 1⁄4 cup (raw) cashews
- 1⁄4 cup unsweetened plain plant milk
Steamed Rice:
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice (or wild rice)
- 2 cups water
- dash of sea salt
Casserole Base:
- 3 heads of broccoli, cut into small florets
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 celery ribs, finely diced
- 2 carrots, finely diced
- 10 oz. white button mushrooms, small dice
- 1 Tablespoon flour (of choice)
- 1 1⁄2 cup water
- 1 cups low-sodium vegetable broth*
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1⁄4 teaspoon dried crushed thyme leaves*
- 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon freeze dried shallots * (or dried minced onions)
- Tiny pinch of rubbed ground sage
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/- to taste) *
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper (+/- to taste)
Instructions
- Cream Base:
- Place the cashews into a small bowl, cover with boiling water, allow to sit for 2o minutes, then discard the soaking water and place the cashews into a high speed blender along with the plant milk. Blend on high until smooth and emulsified. Set aside.
Casserole Base:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Prepare the Steamed Rice by placing the rice of your choice into a rice steamer or prepare on the stove top (per package directions), add water, and sea salt. When done, set aside.
- Blanche the broccoli florets. Bring a pot of water to boil. When the water boils, place the broccoli florets into the boiling water until they turn bright green and are still slightly crisp, about 2 minutes. Then immediately remove from the heat, drain the broccoli florets into a strainer and then dump the hot broccoli florets into cold ice water to stop the cooking processing. When the broccoli is cold, remove from the ice water and set aside.
- In a large ceramic lined Dutch oven, add the onions, carrots, and celery, and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped mushrooms. Sauté about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. If needed to prevent sticking or burning, add 1 or 2 Tablespoons of vegetable broth or water.
- Sprinkle the flour over the cooked vegetables, and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes to cook the flour.
- Stir in the vegetable broth and water, then add the Spice/Herb Ingredients. Stir well to fully incorporate the flour and seasonings into the broth, creating a smooth consistency. Bring to a simmer for about 3 minutes.
- Turn heat to medium-low and slowly stir in cashew cream. Cook for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to fully marry.
- Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
- Add the blanched broccoli and steamed rice. Cook for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
- Place the mixture into an oven safe casserole dish and bake at 375 F for 15 minutes.
- Then switch the oven rack to the top of the oven and broil for 5 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Veggie Tenderness: Make sure the veggies (onions, carrots, and celery) are perfectly tender before moving onto Step 5 to avoid crunchy vegetables in the casserole. Broccoli tenderness is not nearly as important as most individuals tend to enjoy a tiny bit of tender-crispness to broccoli. If concerned about the broccoli crispness versus tenderness, blanch the broccoli until the desired tenderness is achieved.
*Vegetable Broth: We used Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth because it does not have MSG, and has no highly processed ingredients; however, Pacific has a very strong flavor so our water to broth ratio is heavy on the water and low on the vegetable broth. If you are using a vegetable broth other than Pacific, please adjust the water to broth ratio accordingly.
*Freeze dried shallots: We love freeze dried shallots. They always add a nice element to a lot of Vegan WFPB recipes. If unable to find them, substitute with dried minced onions.
*Dried Thyme Crushed Leaves: We use Penzeys French Thyme. It has amazing flavor. If you can’t find dried crushed thyme leaves, you can use ground thyme, but use half the amount.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.