Cheesy Broccoli Rice (Casserole)

I'm not sure why I'm even bothering to put this one up since the only people that look at the blog are all women married to my broccoli-hating men family.

It's a good recipe for leftover rice.

 Make a white sauce - I do this in a pot bigger than I need so I can dump the rice/broccoli into the white sauce and stir before putting it into the 9x13.

You can do this in the microwave too (I usually do with another recipe of mine, by mixing it all together and stirring after a couple minutes and again after every minute until it's thickened - but with this recipe, I prefer to do it stove top.) 

whisk those lumps out

You can tell it's thickened when you stir and the bottom shows through (and then disappears as you move the spoon away).

You can do the salt/pepper in any step (or all if you really like salt/pepper) - but this is where I usually salt/pepper mine b/c I know about how much salt I like over a casserole size dish.

Done!

*The amounts of everything are not super important - I mean, yes, keep the white sauce ingredients proportionate with themselves. But the rice and broccoli and cheese...use what you want. Want to cram in more broccoli...go ahead - as long as there's cheese, my kids will eat a lot more than they would without. Too creamy? Increase the rice. 

And of course, if you're not feeding 7 (or more with guests)...just half it.

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Cheesy Broccoli & Rice

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups chicken broth (or use up to 3 bouillon cubes)

1-1/2 milk OR 12 ounce can evaporated milk (I like evap milk)

16 oz frozen broccoli (I prefer cut, not florets)

2-3 cups rice, cooked (1c uncooked + 2c water; I often do more rice and it's fine.)

2 cups shredded (cheddar) cheese (8 oz)

If your rice isn't already cooked (leftovers) - start that first. (Read the package.) It takes about 20 minutes.

While that's cooking, toss the broccoli in the microwave (in the bag - poke holes if it's not the cook in bag kind....or in another microwave container with a little water) until it's soft. It usually takes me about 6-8 minutes in the microwave. 

In a large (4 qt) pot, melt the margarine. Stir in the flour, making a smooth paste. (You can add pepper and salt here or later.) Whisk in the chicken broth and milk. (Make sure it's smooth) Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, or until the sauce is nicely thickened.

Stir in the broccoli & rice. Spray a 9x13 with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the 9x13. Top with cheese, and bake at 400° for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. 

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The original recipe came from hillbillyhousewife.com and I have been making it for a few years. I'm not sure if all my proportions/instructions are the same as hers still b/c I tend to alter along the way sometimes. The main thing I changed is I left out the chicken and made this a side dish. I like it better that way. So do my girls. You can put it back in (2 cups cooked chicken added = main dish)...or you can do grilled chicken as a main dish beside this as I like.

Random side fact: I was trying to find the original recipe for you to link back to, but I can't find it, so either I haven't been to that site in a while and I'm lost now or she has changed/deleted that recipe...but I found this interesting tip for leftover mashed potato uses. Anytime I make mashed potatoes I seem to have leftovers b/c I can't estimate that well yet. Good to know there's more than shepherd's pie to use them for!