Lentils, Carrots, and Rice Casserole

October 4, 2012 | No Comments

As the days get colder, my body craves comforting food. Stews, soups, and casseroles, laden with legumes, root vegetables, and winter squashes, are among the cold weather foods I love to create and my family loves to devour.

Our CSA, Oakhill Organics offered us gorgeous, sweet, delicious carrots this week, and I could not resist taking a picture of them. Dominic mentioned that I have posted a lot of pictures of carrots in the past, but I think they are stunning, and unique, and I celebrate their imperfections, so here is another picture of carrots.

This recipe is inspired by Food.com’s Brown Rice and Lentil Casserole. My family ate this hearty meal for two nights with roasted chicken alongside a cucumber and tomato salad. We had enough left over for lunch the third day. This recipe can comfortably be a side dish as well as an entree. Add some cubed roasted squash for some caramelized sweetness. I did not have any on hand, but you can easily substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth, to make this dish vegetarian. I hope this versatile recipe warms your family through the cold weather months, as it will mine.

Lentils, Carrots, and Rice Casserole

Recipe type: Entree, Side Dish

Author: Jillian

Serves: 8-12

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups brown or green lentils(not split peas), rinsed well and picked through
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup brown rice, rinsed well
1/4 cup wild rice, rinsed well
1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
3 large carrots, cut in coins(peel if you do not know your source)
8 mushrooms, brushed off and sliced
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Saute onions in 1 Tbsp oil with 1/4 tsp kosher salt for 1 minute
Add carrots and saute for 3 minutes
Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes or until you can smell the garlic
Add mushrooms and saute until softened
Add herbs and another 1/4 tsp kosher salt and stir to combine
Add broth, and stir to combine
Turn off heat to pan
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Add brown rice, wild rice, lentils and herbs to sauteed vegetable pan, and stir to combine
Place cover over pan and place in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes
Take out of oven, stir, cover and put back in oven for 5 more minutes
Enjoy as a side dish or entree
It is going to seem like a lot of liquid you are putting in, but as the rice and lentils cook, they will soak it up

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Tags: brown rice, carrots, chicken broth, garlic, kosher salt, lentils, mushrooms, organic, vegetable broth, vegetarian, wild rice

Categories: Main Courses, Side Dishes