Last week I had a jewelry show at my house with my FAV jewelry designer Judith Bright so I decided to try to impress my fellow vegetarian friend and her gal pal Robin with a hearty Mushroom and Whole Grain Rice casserole. Unfortunately we never got to eat it. (Her stuff is AMAZING so it was no surprise that the show drew quite a crowd!) I’ve been craving the casserole ever since so yesterday I decided to make it again.
Start by cooking the rice. You’ll need about 4 cups cooked. I used a whole grain blend from Target, but you can use whatever you like. While rice is cooking, sauté mushrooms in a little olive oil and a dash of sea salt in a skillet over medium heat. Preheat oven to 350.
Once mushrooms are nicely browned, add a diced onion. I normally use a yellow onion, but only had red on hand. Cook for a couple minutes, then add several chopped garlic cloves. Cook for a minute more. Add kale (I used frozen – run under water to de-thaw and squeeze excess water out) and stir. Remove heat.
In a large bowl, mix together 2 eggs, 1 cup of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt, a tablespoon of dijon mustard and a pinch of salt.
Grate gruyere cheese – about 1 cup.
Add rice, mushroom mix and half of cheese to cottage cheese mix. Stir to combine.
Add to a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until top is golden.
Voila!
