Serving spinach at my house takes a little creativity at times. My family will eat it, but it has to be mixed with other tasty ingredients.
That can mean adding a little fresh spinach to a tossed salad that has plenty of other vegetables they enjoy, or adding cooked spinach to a casserole. They also really like spinach dip.
This was one of those casseroles where I snuck in some spinach. They didn’t mind and my picky eater even said it was pretty good.
Rice Casserole with Bacon and Spinach
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice (white rice should work too)
- chicken broth for cooking rice (optional)
- 12 ounces bacon
- 6 ounces fresh spinach
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil or butter
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried ground thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup milk or milk substitute
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup gluten-free cracker or bread crumbs
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package instructions using chicken broth in place of the water, if desired.
- Cook the bacon, drain, and cut into bite size pieces.
- Sauté the onion in the oil or butter until tender.
- Add the garlic to the skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the spinach to the onion and garlic. Sauté just until wilted.
- Combine the rice, bacon, onion mixture, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl, combine the milk and eggs, beating the eggs with a fork until they are combined with milk.
- Add the milk mixture to the rice mixture. Stir well.
- Spoon into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the cracker or bread crumbs on top.
- Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
Courses Main
This looks really yummy!
Think I am going to make it this week. Looks like I can make it corn free (my new found allergy :O(
Thanks for posting. I will put a link to this in my blog.
Moe
http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/
This looks good! I’m wondering if I made more of a sauce with the milk (like for mac and cheese), if I could use this without the eggs. Definitely something to look into!
I used to make a lot of casseroles, but haven’t figured out a substitute for the “cream of whatever” soup yet. Progresso Creamy Mushroom is gluten free but not condensed and I haven’t had much luck with homemade variations of a white sauce. I haven’t tried adding eggs though — I would use Egg Beaters (R). May have to give this one a try.
I use this recipe. It turns out thick like a condensed soup and I find that I can make it pretty quickly. http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/2008/10/gluten-free-cream-soups-recipe/
Thank you Linda. I’m going to give that a try.
i made this recipe two nights ago with an addition of 1/2 c. of freshly grated parmesan cheese for a little salty bite….it was PHENOMENAL! thanks so much for posting a gluten-free recipe as we are trying to transition into a gluten-free lifestyle. kepp ’em comin’! 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it. You can always look through my recipe index for more ideas.
This looks great, I think I’ll make it for dinner tonight. I don’t see where you use the bread crumbs – do you sprinkle them on top before baking? Thanks for all the great looking recipes!