Brown Rice Casserole

We eat rice with a lot of meals but we don't eat brown rice a lot. Nate prefers white rice and when we can get huge bags of it for dirt cheap, it's hard to argue. Every once in awhile we do splurge for a bag of brown rice to switch things up. Here is a recipe that I modified from Annie's Eats. I've been on a spicy kick so I decided to kick this up a notch buy adding some tabasco sauce and paprika.

This made so much food we ate it for dinner, breakfast the next day with a couple of eggs (which was so good!) and for lunch!


Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 medium container brown mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups cooked brown rice, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup reduced fat cottage cheese 
• ½ cup reduced fat sour cream
• ½ tsp. salt
• pepper
• tabasco sauce (optional)
• paprika (optional)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Cook your rice before you want to make this dish. We tried using our rice cooker with brown rice and were happy to find out that it cooks brown rice perfectly! 

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Lightly grease a 2 quart baking dish. In a large skillet over medium heat saute the mushrooms in the olive oil, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are slightly browned. Add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in the garlic and paprika (I just added a few good shakes) and cook for about 1 more minute. Remove from the heat. Add the rice to the skillet and stir to combine.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, and salt until smooth. Add pepper and tabasco sauce to taste. Add in the rice mixture and stir until well blended. Sprinkle most of the Parmesan over the top, reserving a bit for the end. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20-30 minutes more, until the top is lightly browned. Top with remaining Parmesan. Serve hot or cold and Enjoy!