Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole with Chickpeas
1½ cups uncooked long grain brown rice
3 cups warm water
1 quart vegetable broth (divided into 3 cups and 1 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped white onion
3 cups chopped fresh broccoli
¼ cup water
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 (8-ounce) container chive and garlic imitation cream cheese
1 cup vegan shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for the top
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Soak rice in 3 cups warm water for 6-8 hours. Drain, rinse and place rice in a medium-size pot. Add 3 cups vegetable broth, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Keep covered, remove from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease a 9” x 13” casserole dish and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large, wide pot with lid, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and broccoli and stir for 1 minute. Add ¼ cup water, cover and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes or until broccoli and onion are tender. Do not remove the lid during this time as it will allow steam to escape. Remove pot from heat and add remaining ingredients, including cooked rice and remaining 1 cup vegetable broth, stirring to combine.
Spread mixture into prepared dish and sprinkle with extra vegan shredded cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I had a small bit of leftover broccoli, rice and chickpeas (I'd made hummus!), so I caramelized a tablespoon of onion in a small cast iron skillet. I stirred in the broc, rice and hummus, along with a single-serve container of reduced fat artichoke spinach cream cheese from Wendy's, and topped w/ shredded Cheddar. Baked the whole lot at 350' for 15 minutes. DH, who has problems digesting meat so I'm learning to cook vegetarian, ate the entire thing. Thank you for this recipe! I'll be using it often.
Really good, perfect healthy comfort food. I added carrots to mine =)
This was really good. The only thing isthat it seemed a little bland so I added some creole seasoning and it was perfect
Delicious! The second time I made this, I mashed the chickpeas before adding them into the casserole and liked it much better. I also added more onion and some garlic powder.
This was excellent! My family and I went for seconds! I didn't soak the rice beforehand, and I used plain yogurt in place of the cream cheese. (I'm a vegetarian converting to vegan.) I also added who-knows-how-much other spices because I found it a bit bland.
My local Kroger doesn't carry flavored cream cheese so I simply minced 1 large garlic clove and instead of chives, used green onion tops to stir into the cream cheese. Everythig else about this recipe I left the same. I can't tell you how delicious this was...I couldn't stop eating it!!!! Been sharing the recipe with everyone on fb since. This is DEFINATELY going in the "keeper" file here at home.
I made this dish last night. I found the garlic and chive non dairy cream cheese at my local Whole Foods (it was a little expensive but it didn't taste too bad). Instead of just sprinkling the Daiya cheese on the top, I made a crunchy topping. For the crunchy topping, I added 2oz of Glutino Parmesan & Garlic Bagel chips, 1/4 cup of Daiya Cheddar Shreds, and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper to my food processor. After grinding it up, I just sprinkled it over the top of the casserole then baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. It gave a nice crunchy texture to this creamy dish. At first, was skeptical about how this dish would taste but I ended up really liking it. I ran it through the Myfitnesspal app and the calorie count for this dish is 403 calories per serving (based on 8 servings). It's definitely not a low calorie dish but it's nice to have with a salad and you can always make the portions smaller. I would call it "Vegan Comfort Food."
This seemed like it would be a healthy and hearty meal. I used a box of long grain and wild rice as opposed to long grain brown, which shortened the cooking time but cut back on the healthy aspect. I, too, did not find vegan cheddar and chive so I used vegan cream cheese. I forgot to add garlic and chives. So, when I removed it from oven, I added cinnamon (because it was on the counter since breakfast). It had a nice Indian dish taste. My vegan cheddar did not burn. Lucky. This was my first time using white onion. Like it!
this sounds like a great comfort food. i made it last night and it was pretty great. i used broccoli stems that i trimmed first. i would not use cheese on the top as it becomes very crusty and unappealing.
Um...YUM! I followed the directions, but I could only find plain cream "cheese" so I added my own garlic and chives, and I used more "cheddar" than it called for-just realized that now...I highly recommend this recipe, also love onions, and will use more next time!
Pages