Wild Rice Casserole

Alright folks, it's Christmas and you can't cut-back ALL year. This is my family's wild rice casserole and I have plenty of friends and family who will contest to the greatness of this dish. It's almost a meal in itself but it makes an excellent side to Christmas dinner. I was introduced to the term "sidesgiving" for vegetarians who don't eat turkey or other meat main courses for Thanksgiving, so this should be a great recipe for those who are having a side dish holiday feast.

In all honesty, this dish does not resurrect well, so I highly recommend making it for a large group and taking it out in one night. Hopefully that won't be a problem ;)

Wild Rice Casserole

2 box Uncle Ben's traditional wild rice

1 pint slice mushrooms

3-4 stalks celery, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

2-4 tbsp butter

minced garlic

1 pint heavy cream or evaporated milk or combination of both

1/4 block of Velveta cheese, cubed

Cook rice according to package instructions. For some reason the "quick rice" doesn't work as well with this recipe - probably because it is also baked. So use the traditional recipe box.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Melt butter into pan and add garlic, onion and celery. I hardly ever saute using butter, but it just tastes so much better in this recipe. And after all the heavy cream and Velveta, you're not saving much on calories. Once celery is soft, add mushrooms and saute. Season with garlic salt and pepper.

Once rice is done, stir in vegetables. Spread into a 2 quart baking dish - preferably glass - and pour cream over rice. I've always made this recipe with cream, but one year Mom used leftover evaporated milk and it was great and also make the dish more of a traditional casserole. I normally have both in the house during the holidays so a mix is probably best. The rice mix should be well saturated - the rice will still absorb a lot of the cream when it bakes. Evenly spread the Velveta cubes over the casserole.

Bake casserole for 45-60 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Let the casserole sit to cool! I can't count how many times I burnt my tongue waiting for that thing to cool. It's just so good.

Happy Holidays everyone and enjoy all your Christmas goodies.