WILD RICE BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

An easy vegetarian wild rice casserole recipe cooked in white wine, cream, and stock with broccoli for the added healthy touch!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Let me start with a little warning about this wild rice casserole recipe! It’s easy, but the lengthy cooking time is because of the time it takes to cook wild rice.

It only takes about 5-8 minutes to prep the dish, cooking the rice takes about 20  minutes and sauteing another 5, while baking 15 minutes.

So effectively the actual standing over the stove and cooking is only 20 mins. As you can chop and saute the broccoli, garlic, and onions while the rice cooks.

Wild rice casserole is a great low – carb, gluten-free dish with all added nutrients.

It truly is a healthy wholesome dish to try.

What is Wild Rice and is Wild Rice Healthy

I had heard about wild rice but had no idea about its difference with normal or brown rice.

During some fact findings of the health benefits of wild rice, an interesting find and revelation was that wild rice is not actually a rice.

Its a type of edible seed that grows on dwarf marshy grass similar to rice.

The taste of wild rice can vary from one type of grain to another depending on the conditions it grows in, just like normal rice.

It is quite chewy and husky in texture with a nutty undertone, similar to brown rice.

So it may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy brown rice then you will surely like this too!

Wild rice has many health benefits such as it helps in digestion, improves bone mass, and is a great low carb diet food!

Wild Rice is Gluten-free so a great option of grain for those allergic to gluten.

You can read more about its many benefits here.

How And Where To Shop for Wild Rice

There are many different variations of wild rice that you can find in the stores today.

Some with just the single kind of grains and few mixed with others like this one from Waitrose UK. 

I choose a pack with single wild rice like the one below.

I may try a wholegrain rice mix another day as they look good.

How To Cook Wild Rice

The way to cook wild rice is similar to cooking any other rice.

The main difference is the time it takes to cook it.

If a cup of white rice takes anything between 12- 15 minutes, wild rice can take 20 – 30 minutes to cook.

It is important to cook the rice till it becomes nice and soft else it will be too chewy and not pleasant to eat!

The best way to cook wild rice is to boil it in water/stock for added flavour.

You can follow these tips to add spruce up any rice dish and add oodles of flavour by adding these best spices and herbs for rice.

Depending on the kind of dish you want to make you can either choose to drain the extra water once cooked or let the grains absorb all the water.

There are other options for cooking wild rice, but since our family preference for grains is soft, I choose to boil it.

A key thing to remember when cooking wild rice is to keep the water to wild rice ratio.

You will need 4 cups of water for cooking 1 cup of wild rice.

I share other cooking tips below.

Ingredients Needed For Making Wild Rice Casserole

Like most of my ‘making best out of the rest‘ dishes, I had few fridge items I had to use before its expiry and wanted to add to the dish. They were:

1. Half empty white wine

2. Half a bottle of fresh cream

3. Half a bunch of broccoli floret (that’s why they are a bit yellow in the images 🙂

If you have made dishes with brown rice before, cooking wild rice is not that different.

Or recipe option and dishes there are plenty to choose from when you search the net.

Wild rice salads, soups, mushroom and wild rice risottos seem to be very popular.

I settled for a casserole type dish as I thought wine and cream would give the rice a risotto-like mushy consistency.

And then worked around other ingredients to make it more flavoursome such as whole spices, garlic, shallots, balsamic vinegar and stock cube.

How to Make Low Carb Wild Rice Casserole At home

STEP 1 – Cooking the Rice 

Heat 4 cups of water in a deep pan. Add rice, cardamom and cinnamon to the water and sprinkle stock cube over it. Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook the rice on simmer for about 35 – 45 mins

STEP 2 – Stir Fry the Vegetables 

Heat butter/olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and saute for few seconds. Next add the shallots and saute for another 2 minutes.

Now add the broccoli florets and saute for another 2 minutes. The broccoli should be slightly undercooked have a crunch.

Add wine, balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt to the broccoli and mix well and set aside.

STEP 3 – Bake the Casserole 

Once the wild rice is almost cooked and not much liquid left in the rice transfer the stir-fried broccoli into the rice, add parmesan cheese and cream (leaving some to sprinkle on the top), and stir in well together.

Transfer the rice and vegetables to a baking tray, spread the remaining parmesan cheese on top, cover with a foil and bake at 180°C for 15 mins.

Serve on its own as a one-dish meal or with any grilled meat or fish!

Cooking Notes To Make Vegetarian Wild Rice Casserole

1. A cup of wild rice will yield 3 cups of cooked rice.
2. Wash raw rice with running cold water at least 4 to 5 times.
3. For quicker cooking time soak the rice in cold water for half an hour.
4. For cooking 1 cup of rice use 6 cups of water and drain the extra water if using the rice to make salads or to keep the rice grainy.
5. For a mushy consistency add 4 cups of water to 1 cup of rice and simmer over low heat letting the liquid soak into the rice.
6. If using stock cube remember it already has added salt, so keep that in mind when adding salt.
7. Since this is a baked wild rice recipe, do not cook the rice or vegetables, They need to be a bit undercooked and finished in the oven.

Other Rice Recipes You May Like To Try 

SPINACH MUSHROOM PULAO RICE

HEALTHY EASY VEGETABLE PULAO MADE WITH WHOLEGRAINS

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