Broccoli and Rice (or quinoi) casserole

I don't know if you have seen a recipie floating around, naimly on pintrest,  with this picture,

Doesn't it look good? I thought so, and decided to make one. You can find the recipe here. However, when I looked up the recipe, I was saddened to see bad ingredients. I was expecting the caned soup (though hoping it wasn't their) but not the mayonnaise (apparently the original recipe had more!) or the splenda/sugar. I didn't think people still used splenda, didn't stevia take over yet? It's so bad, like bowel problems bad, and so many others. You can read more about aspartame here. 

Since I didn't want to go to the store for a can of soup with who knows what in it, I decided to look up a recipe for a substitute (not realizing their was one at the bottom). I found that here. And as always, I had to alter quite a bit of the recipe to make it healthier.

I was going to use quinoi in a salad later, so I decided to go with rice because I had never even had the original casserole at all. 

Here is my version.

Ingredients:

For the soup substitute- makes a substitute for 1 14 1/2 oz can of condensed soup

• 2 tbsp of butter or you can use peanut, sunflower, grape seed, or other good oil. (I used peanut)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp Tamarie or Soy sauce (you could also use braggs liquid aminos)
• 1 tsp of garlic or Spike (Muti-purpose, good for everything seasoning. you can find this at a helthfood store. I found it at city market too)
• 1 cup whole milk
• pinch of salt (you can leave the salt out because the soy sauce has plenty)
• Pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup finely chopped broccoli 

Directions

 In a saucepan, sauté the brocolie in the butter/oil until the broccoli is tender. Add the flour, and seasoning, (Tamarie, garlic) Slowly whisk in the milk, and Bring to a boil. Stir until thickened. You can add the broccoli later if it is going into something that will cook for a while, and just combine the four with the oil. This will make it so that you can brown the flour just a bit, adding more flavor. Use mushrooms instead of broccoli if you want a cream of mushroom soup, Use 1/2 cup of chicken stock and only 1/2 cup of milk, and chicken instead of broccoli for cream of chicken soup. You can add more milk to make an actual soup.

Ingredients:

For the casserole- 

• One 10 oz can of soup, or homemade version (you can use 14 oz)
• 1/3 cup yogurt or sour cream (I like yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of shredded white cheddar, pepper jack, or other cheese
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup shredded asiago or parmesan cheese (plus a bit more for the top)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp pepper and salt if needed
• 2 cups cooked broccoli
• 1 1/2 cups  cooked quinoa or rice

To cook quinoa or rice:

• 3/4 cup quinoa or rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Rinse quinoa/rice. In a small saucepan combine the quinoa/rice, water, and salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until fluffy and the white ring/tail is visible (for the quinoi). For the rice cook until the rice is tender and their is no more water, about 20 to 25 min.  Fluff with a fork.

Preheat oven to 350 and coat a shallow (8×8 in or 5-6 cups) casserole dish – or individual ramekins – with oil or butter.

In a large bowl combine the soup, yogurt/sour cream, milk, shredded cheese, , pepper, (salt) and nutmeg. Stir in the quinoa/rice and broccoli.
Spoon mixture into the dish or dishes.  Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of Parmesan or asiago and bake for 35-40 minutes (20-25 minutes for ramekins) or until bubbly on the edges and golden.  Makes 8 generous 1/2-cup servings.

Again the recipes that I went by (and altered) are casserole, and soup. The first link also has a recipe for the soup at the bottom of the page. This recipe turned out great, and from what I've heard the originals taste amazing too. Have fun cooking, and if you try alterations I would love to hear about them.