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Once there was green bean casserole.
Now there is kale.
Yay!!
Of course, the yay is only if you like kale. If you don’t like kale maybe make this a spinach casserole, but in my book kale is better.
So it is officially the holidays. Thanksgiving is a week from tomorrow, the stores are filled with Christmas decorations, gifts and toys. Turkeys, yams and hams are everywhere.
Speaking of hams, I was asked to create a ham recipe. Little nervous on this one since I am not very familiar with hams but I am determined to top Honey Baked… wish me luck.
So just curious, do you guys like them? I feel like you either love them or hate them.
Personally, I grew up eating turkey for all holiday meals. I am not even sure ham was an option, and if it was I sure as heck did not know about it. Or maybe I just did not acknowledge it because it probably totally creeped me out. Ah huh, my guess is it totally creeped me out. However, I am now determined to rise above my uninformed childhood notions!
Anyway, so I have a little story about this dish.
It may totally freak and or gross you out.
It’s pretty funny, but I am warning you.
See, I ordered this really pretty casserole dish from West Elm after seeing this awesome giveaway.
FYI, West Elm has some cute stuff.
I order the casserole dish exactly for this Kale Casserole and waited over a week to make it just so I could bake the kale and wild rice in the new and pretty casserole.
Finally, the stinkin’ thing arrived on a Friday…..
Shattered.
I am not even joking, the dish was in a million pieces.
Completely shattered. I was SO bummed.
Until I took it over to my dad. You guys he is getting weirder and more handy with each and every day. Actually, his current project is taking apart my broken mixer, ordering new parts and resembling. He offered. And he is kind of pumped on his new “project”. Like I said, he is getting weirder by the day.
Anyway, my dad looked at the dish and said “Tieg, I can super glue it.”.
I thought he was joking.
He wasn’t.
The next day he showed up with the casserole dish….
All in one piece.
Which was awesome. I mean, it looked like the Grinch’s angel for Martha, but it was all in one piece!
And also very toxic. I mean super glue?!? Eww and Yikes. But I was desperate. I wanted to use the casserole dish so bad, so I did. And we enjoyed a super healthy dish that was turned probably very unhealthy from super glue leaking into the food. I know, gross. I tried to just eat the middle of the dish and pitch the spots close to any glue, so I am hoping we are all good.
If you look closely you can see the dish is glued together, but I tried to photograph around the handle, that I honestly have no idea how my dad got into one piece. It is actually kind of incredible.
Anyway, the food was delicious, toxic or not. It is a semi healthy holiday food that actually tastes good and does not make you wish you were just eating pie. Full of wild rice, kale, caramelized mushrooms and Gruyère it is the perfect side dish and fairly easy too. Oh, and it is perfect to assemble ahead of time and then just bake before dinner. Easy peasy and delicious!
Kale and Wild Rice Casserole
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 708 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 bunches kales, leaves torn
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk I used 2%
- 1 cup chicken broth or veggie broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or canned coconut milk
- 4 cups cooked wild rice
- 1 1/2 cup gruyere cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large sweet onions sliced into thin rings
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Grease a 2-3 quart casserole dish. Set aside.
- Heat a very large skillet (the largest you have!) over medium-high heat. Add all of the torn kale to the skillet and add 1 cup of water. Cover the skillet and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the kale is wilted. Once the kale is wilted and all of the water has been absorbed, remove the kale from the skillet and set aside.
- Return the skillet to medium heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the skillet is hot, sprinkle in the mushrooms in a single layer. Don't stir them! Let them sizzle until they have caramelized on the bottom, about 2 minutes. When the bottoms are caramelized, toss them once and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Continue to cook without stirring for about 5 minutes. Now add the butter to the skillet and cook until the butter begins to brown. Once the butter is browned reduce the heat and add the garlic, thyme and nutmeg and cook for about 10 seconds. Now add the kale back to the skillet with the mushrooms, garlic and spices and toss well.
- Sprinkle the flour over the kale and mushrooms and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and chicken broth, bring to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes or until there is a thick sauce. Add the cream and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked wild rice. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Now wipe the skillet and add the olive oil, cook over medium-high heat. Add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.Continue to cook until the onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle half the cheese over the casserole and then add the onions and the remaining cheese. Bake the casserole for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the onions are crispy. Serve!
Take that, green bean casserole!
How far in advance could this dish be prepared? For example, could it be assembled in the morning, kept in the frig and then baked later in the day for dinner?
Hi Mary,
Sure, that would totally work well for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
I made this for dinner tonight I used a cast iron Dutch Oven ! I was afraid my casserole dish was too small It turned out great! My dad loved it! I did add some bacon crumbles to the top for him and a side of cornbread
It wasn’t necessary because the mushrooms and onions added so much flavor OMGOODNESS Yes I will make this again for my Vegetarian when she comes home and the old ? gave it 5 ⭐️ s We all did!
Hey Lisa,
Wonderful!! Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a go:) xTieghan
Absolutely fantastic! My family’s new fave comfort food. We used a combo of brown rice and black rice and my picky kids were none the wiser. Will be making this as often as I can.
Hey Carolin,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT
Hi, I have 10 guests coming to stay for two weeks! I found this in your make ahead freezer meals. Can you please tell me how/when to freeze and how to double please?This looks so delicious. And if you have any other freezer side dishes or stews maybe I would greatly appreciate them too!
Thank you, Cindy
Hi there,
To double, just double all of the ingredients:) To freeze, I would freeze after step 4. Lasagnas would be a great idea to make ahead and freeze for your guests. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Where does the rice go? When do you add it?
Hi Benjamin,
The rice is added in step 4 and poured into the casserole dish. I hope you love the recipe. xTieghan
Thank you!! I’ll let you know what the crowd thinks?
I have made this at least half a dozen times. Vegetarian friendly and easy vegan substitutes. It is always a great hit with others and I love making this with leftovers to freeze as a side dish or a meal on its own. It’s now 2021, and I still think of this recipe from time to time. Love it!
Hey Tatiana,
Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I am thrilled that you liked it! I hope you have a great week:) xTieghan
Hi Tatiana! Which vegan substitutes did you use? Thanks!
Writing in from 2021 to say; wow! I loved this recipe and it made dinner for the week a breeze. I added shredded chicken (pre-cooked and seasoned in the slow cooker) so I could have an excuse to have a one-dish meal all week. I didn’t have enough wild rice so I used a wild rice/long grain blend from Uncle Ben (including seasoning) and left out some of the salt there at the end to accomodate the sodium increase. Awesome! In the future, I’ll probably try an aged swiss cheese next time–I felt the gruyere wasn’t quite powerful enough for me.
Hey Eliza,
I am thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
This was amazing! Great directions (especially the mushrooms part) and sooo delicious. I halved the recipe and substituted black rice for wild because that’s what I had on hand. My spouse asked if I could make this every week, it’s so good!
Hey Elizabeth,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This recipe would be delicious with real wild rice; the toothsome smokiness of the long, dark grains marry well with the rest of the ingredients. From the pictures above, it seems you are using a commercial brown rice blend. The blends available bare no resemblance to actual wild rice. In fact, wild rice is not rice at all but an aquatic grass. If you are unfamiliar with actual hand-harvested wild rice, you owe it to yourself to try it out. Sourcing actual wild rice may take a few Google moments and will cost more than you think: hand-harvested in northern Minnesota and Canada! Of course, there are a few commercial vendors who sell cultivated “wild” rice in supermarkets but trust me, it isn’t the same.
Thank you for this! xTieghan
I want to throw it out there that even if you complete ever step with perfect precision at maximum speed, the last two steps alone account for all of the supposed 40-minute cook time. It is literally physically impossible to make this in 50 minutes.
Hi Alex! Thank you for this. I will look into the cooking time again! xTieghan
This is delicious. Made it last night. My produce box had a lovely bouquet of kale in it, plus sweet onions and criminis. Self Isolation cooking is all about substitutions — No wild rice, no gruyere. I used Jarlsberg cheese and brown rice since that’s what I had on hand. Delicious, I say again!! We really enjoyed it. Looking forward to making it with wild rice once life settles down. Thank you!
Yes!! So glad this turned out so well for you Staci! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Why can we not print the recipe anymore?
Hi Lori! You are still able to print the recipe! Is the print button not showing up for you? Please let me know, I would love to help and fix! xTieghan
Do you think fresh sage could be subbed for the thyme by chance?? Trying to use what’s already in the fridge! 😛 Thanks!
Hi! I am sure that will be so great! Love that idea! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I cannot wait until I can buy the ingredients and I am so hungry right now!! as soon as I can, this is my top recipe to make. I wish I had invented this one myself and I cannot wait to make it!! Thank you!
Thank you so much Lisa! I am so glad you loved this! xTieghan
2 leaves Kale? How many cups? Or did you mean bunches
Hi! Yes, I meant to say 2 bunches of kale. Recipe is fix. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan
HI,
Just about to try this out. I’m wondering about how many cups of kale is 2 bunches? I’m picking it from the garden so no bunches 🙂
thanks
Hey Kate,
I would say 3-4 cups. I hope you love this dish, please let me know if you give it a try! xx