A rice and vegetable casserole may be a great new way to rethink plain rice and vegetables. This dish makes great use of less popular, yet healthy and tasteful vegetables. It is vegetarian, completely gluten free, and can easily be made vegan and dairy free as well. This dish is also great for cooks who like to experiment with spices. Consider this vegetable and rice casserole with the accompanying flavourful homemade tomato sauce recipe.
This rice and vegetable casserole makes a great dinner side dish. As a main course, the casserole serves two.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup uncooked Basmati or Jasmine rice
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 small onion
- 1 tomato
- Olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1 small eggplant
- 1 small zucchini
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1/4 green pepper
- 1/4 red pepper
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp parsley
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 cup grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Directions:
- Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. When the water boils, add rice to saucepan and cook the rice according to package directions. Follow the instructions on your rice package. In most cases, 1/2 cup of uncooked rice will make 1 cup of cooked rice. Try adding a little butter to the rice as it boils to make it flavourful and creamy.
- Chop the garlic and onion, and dice the tomato into small pieces.
- In a frying pan, cook the garlic and onion in olive oil, over medium heat, until the onion is limp.
- Add the tomato and reduce heat to a low simmer. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and basil. Allow the sauce to simmer, covered, for 5 to 7 minutes. Stir occasionally. Transfer the sauce to a bowl until the vegetables are ready.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Slice the eggplant, zucchini, celery, green and red peppers into bite-size pieces (about 1 inch). In a frying pan over medium heat, sauté all the vegetables together in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste, and thyme, parsley and fennel seeds.
- Reduce heat and allow the vegetables to simmer, covered, until the zucchini is limp. Stir often for evenly cooked vegetables.
- Spread half the tomato sauce into a thin layer on the bottom of a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Layer the rice over the sauce. Spread the sautéed vegetables over the rice. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the vegetables. Spread the rest of the tomato sauce on the top.
- Place in the oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
Vegetable Casserole Tips
For a vegan or dairy free dish, simply replace the butter and cheese with appropriate substitutes.
Some spices are stronger than others. For a more balanced flavour, add no more than half as much pepper as salt. Parsley is not a strong flavour and will blend in well, while fennel seeds will stand out. But the fennel flavour mixed into the vegetables is what makes this dish sparkle. No worries if you think you may have added too much.
Any leftovers from this dish will keep in the fridge and taste great cold or warm.
Try this tasty rice and vegetable casserole with homemade tomato sauce for a great way to reinvent rice, vegetables, and dinner altogether.
Michelle Wright - Michelle is an avid reader and writer, with a focus on book, film and music reviews, gluten free recipes, and fiction writing "how-tos."
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