Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan

email

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Yummly

Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan got two thumbs up from my sister Pam when I tried out the recipe on her, and his tasty side dish or vegetarian main dish is meatless, gluten-free, and low-glycemic. Use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one.

Click to PIN Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan!

Yesterday my sister Pam and brother-in-law Kelly came over, and Kelly replaced my broken garbage disposal (thanks Kelly!)  While he worked on that Pam and I raided the fridge where there were some leftovers of this Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan. A few hours later Pam called me. saying she wanted to save the spinach and feta casserole, but couldn’t find it on the blog. I had to tell her I was sorry that I hadn’t posted the recipe yet, but I was very happy that she liked it so much!

This is one of those wonderfully versatile recipes that could be a vegetable-laden side dish or a perfect vegetarian dish and just in time for Meatless Monday, ahem.  And I’m a more than a little proud that I’ve managed to have a meatless recipe for the blog again this Monday, since sticking to a schedule hasn’t been one of my best skills the last few years.

I cooked the brown rice in my beloved rice cooker, but you can use any method you’d like to get 3 cups of cooked brown rice. Thaw a one pound package of spinach in the fridge or microwave.  Then drain the spinach and squeeze out all the water. Mix together the eggs, buttermilk (or milk), green onion, dried thyme, salt, and Worcestershire sauce.

Then stir in the drained spinach. Measure out 1 cup of Feta cheese and make sure it’s well-crumbled for this recipe. Mix the crumbled Feta and 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan into the spinach and egg mixture. Then mix in the brown rice, combining it thoroughly so all the ingredients are well-distributed in the rice.

Press the mixture into a 2 1/2 or 3 quart casserole dish that you’ve sprayed with oil or non-stick spray. Bake covered for about 35 minutes, or until the casserole is heated through.Then remove the lid and sprinkle on 1/4 cup more of coarsely grated Parmesan cheese.  Put back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes longer. And the last photo shows how it looked when it was done baking and hot out of the oven.  Serve hot or warm.

More Tasty Meatless Dinner Ideas:

Vegetarian Recipes Index ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Soup Recipe with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Palak Daal (Spinach and Lentil Curry) from Not Eating Out in New York

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Print Recipe

Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan

Yield: 6 servings

Total Time: 65-70 minutes +time to cook brown rice

Prep Time: 20 minutes +time to cook brown rice

Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan is a tasty side dish or vegetarian main dish, perfect for a week day meal!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 16 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or milk (I never buy milk so I used buttermilk and it was great in this)
• 1/2 cup finely sliced green onions
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup crumbled Feta cheese (6 oz.)
• 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan (If you only have finely grated parmesan, I’d use a little less)

Directions:

1. Cook enough brown rice to make 3 cups cooked brown rice. (Follow package directions or use a rice cooker).
2. Let rice cool slightly while you prepare other ingredients.
3. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
4. Put thawed spinach into a colander, then use your hands to squeeze out as much of the water as you can.
5. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and then mix in the buttermilk (or milk), sliced green onions, dried thyme, salt, and Worcestershire sauce.
6. When ingredients are combined, mix in the drained spinach.
7. Then mix in the crumbled Feta and 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan, followed by the brown rice.
8. Use a fork to mix until the ingredients are well-distributed into the rice.
9. Put the mixture into a 2.5 or 3 quart casserole dish that you’ve sprayed with oil or non-stick spray.
10. Cover the dish and bake about 35 minutes, or until the rice mixture is heated through and Feta is starting to melt.
11. Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, then bake 10-15 minutes more.  Serve hot.
12. This freezes well, but you may not have any left to freeze!

Notes:

Recipe inspired by one found in The Big Book of Casseroles, with quite a few healthy changes by Kalyn.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
I made a lot of changes in the original recipe to make this lower-glycemic and suitable for South Beach, including using brown rice, leaving out the butter, using less cheese and switching some of it for lower-fat Feta cheese, and increasing the proportion of spinach to other ingredients. With my changes, this would be okay for phase 2 or 3 of South Beach and probably okay for most low-glycemic eating plans if you use portion control. With brown rice, this probably isn’t a good choice for a stricter low-carb eating plan.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into this nutrition analyzer, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

email

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Yummly