Spinach, Brown Rice and Feta Casserole

My friend, Rebecca, and I made dinner for some friends, marking my first dinner party here in Austin!  Since leaving Los Angeles, I have really missed cooking and having friends over.  It was amazing to cook and spend more time with some of girls I have met here!  Plus, everyone chipped in with the cooking! :)

Our decor shelf doubled as a food holder!

Our great little dinner table!

In celebration of Hanukkah, we made latkes and lit a ‘menorah’, and made a few other veggie-friendly dishes.

Here’s what our dinner included:

We had so much food and it was all so tasty.  I will cover the other recipes in another post, but here’s how we made the Spinach Casserole.  We used less cheese than the original recipe called for and it still was received well by the cheese lovers.

Spinach and Brown Rice Feta Casserole

• 3 cups cooked brown rice*
• 20 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (We used soy sauce)
• 1 cup crumbled reduced fat Feta cheese (6 oz.)

*I accidentally made 3 cups of DRY brown rice… whoops!  Now we have lots of leftovers to make something else :)

Directions
Cook the brown rice, according to directions

Thaw and drain the frozen spinach

In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, green onions, thyme, salt and worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)

Add in the spinach and mix while sprinkling in the feta cheese

Add the spinach mixture to the rice and combine thoroughly (using a fork might help to break the spinach and cheese!)

Spray the bottom of a casserole dish (we used a baking pan) and pour the mixture in.

Cover and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. (We forgot to cover, but it was still delicious)

The texture of the baked brown rice was perfectly chewy and the crispy edges of the brown rice were my favorite!  I loved the spinach and light feta taste too!

This dish is incredibly easy to make and healthy (of course)!

• Brown rice= whole grain.  Why Go Whole Grain?
• Spinach as a Superfood
• We did not add any heavy creams or sauces, used light cheese, and low sodium ingredients