Baked Brown Rice with Smoked Gouda Cheese and Spinach

I’m not a big side dish type of girl. In my meal planning process I usually forget to plan a side dish but I am trying to change that. I’m not sure why I don’t plan sides, my mom is the side dish queen and we always had sides growing up. My guess is that it started in college where one pot meals (and potatoes) where my go-to. Having everything included in one dish is lovely but it doesn’t always happen. Enter a new cooking goal - plan side dishes for meals during meal planning time!

Saturday I wanted to make something nice for dinner. No Spend Month means not going out for dinner, so something a little traditional for Saturday night’s meal felt right. I baked some chicken and tried out this very yummy side dish. I love all the main ingredients in the recipe separately (rice, spinach, Gouda) but I would have never thought to put them all together like this. Whoever came up with this is wonderful.  Since it was my first time making this dish I halved the recipe. I always mean to do this with a new recipe and I am so proud of myself for following through! The recipe below is with my conversions.  

I have a feeling this will be gracing my table a few times a year. Husband kept making little comments about how much he really really liked this. I was impressed myself. I found this to be a pretty easy dish to make, but them again I make lots of homemade mac and cheese. This dish is a lot like making mac and cheese, the only difference really is that you use rice instead of pasta.

Enjoy!

½ onion, diced
1 ½ T. olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
2 garlic cloes, minced
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
¼ cup milk
7 oz. chicken broth
1 cup smoked Gouda, shredded
5 oz. frozen spinach, partially thawed
1 ½ cups brown rice, cooked
 
Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about five minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about one minute. Remove from pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 and grease a medium sized casserole dish.

In a the same sauce pan, melt butter and whisk in flour. Cook for two minutes, whishing constantly. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and whisk until smooth. Whisk in Gouda then the spinach and onion mixture. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.

Stir in cooked rice. Pour mixture into the casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand for ten minutes before serving.

Adapted from http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2010/04/baked-brown-rice-with-smoked-gouda-cheese-and-spinach.html