Quick Vegetable & Rice Casserole

After a long day of painting, a weekend without enough vegetables it was time for a recharge! I was tired and did not want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen after painting it all day. I took some of the things in the fridge, pantry, and freezer to make a delicious quick casserole that satisfied the vegetable craving in an instant!

I had no idea what was going to happen, I didn't have a recipe, I just had a few flavor combinations I wanted to mix. A true Keenie Kitchen experiment gone right!

We had a lightly seasoned pork tenderloin to accompany the flavorful casserole for a light, scrumptious meal.

Shopping List/ Pantry List:

• 2 cups of chopped cauliflower
• 3/4 cup of uncooked brown rice
• heaping 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 2-3 dashes of garlic powder
• 2-3 dashes of crushed red pepper
• 3 big dashes of parsley
• 1/4 tsp of cracked pepper
• 1/4 tsp of salt, salt to taste

Putting it Together:

1. Start the brown rice in a rice cooker or stove top to the directions of whatever rice you are using.
2. Heat a pot with a thin layer of oil to a medium/hot heat, once heated, add cauliflower, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, parsley, pepper, and salt.

3. As the cauliflower just starts to soften and get a light brown color (4 to 6 minutes) add the peas. Stir the peas constantly as they finish thawing in the pan. (about 1 minute)

4. Once the peas are bright green add the spinach to fill the pot full. As the spinach starts to cook down you can add just a little more. Spinach cooks down so much you won't overload it!

5. Once the spinach is cooked down but not totally shriveled add the brown rice and Parmesan.


6. Taste, does it need a little salt? add some salt if you do.
7. Turn off the heat, leave the cover on for a few minutes, serve!

Notes:

- The pork was cooked with a light rub: I salted, peppered, and garlic powdered each side and let it absorb the flavors before cooking. I cooked it at 375 for approximately 30 minutes until the juices ran clear.

- You can add literally any yummy vegetables to this casserole, the spice, cheese and rice are the staple to this dish. Try broccoli, corn, diced zucchini.. yum!

- I used freshly grated Parmesan, since we aren't baking you can add more or less of the ingredient depending on your taste buds, and how healthy you want to be!

-Questions?