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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.
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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!
I want to make this for a work pot luck. What’s the best way to prep it a day before so I can bake it at work right before serving? My concern is, I don’t want the prep the whole thing in its dish and then have the rice absorb all the liquid before baking.
HI! You can prep this all the way up to baking, then bake it off before you are ready to serve. I don’t think the rice will soak up the liquids. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Can this be prepared the day before Thanksgiving?
I honestly cannot wait to try to make this! And I am a green bean casserole lover!! Thanks so much for the recipe!! I’ll post pics after I make it! Katie ?
Thank you Katie!
great dish and funny story, but you know hon, they use super glue on open wounds, they did my arm and my chest togeather with it to……….in field combat first Aid bags there is a tube of it……………… Keep up the good work…and tell Dad I fix up mixers to..………….. !!!!!!!
Thanks so much Clifford!
This looks freaking delicious! I’m experimenting with different ways to cook with kale–this will definitely go on my list!
Perfect! I hope you love this Stephanie!
The best darn casserole ever!!!
Thank you!
I’m on a kale kick, so this is what’s for dinner. Somehow I managed to get all the way through the recipe without cooking and adding the onions … but I like it anyway! Thanks.
That is so great! Thank you Chessie!
While I have not yet tried this recipe, I wanted to comment on repairing baking dishes. If I ever use a questionable baking container, I use parchment paper as a liner to prevent contamination. While this may be a mildly effective method, due to heat’s ability to spread toxins, it may help.
That is a great idea, parchment paper is great! Thanks for the tips (:
The ad for belly bloat showing something that looked like creepy caterpillars made me close page even before seeing recipe!
Ah so sorry! I need to have that taken down! Thanks for telling me Rhonda!
How Many People does this recipe serve?
Just made this casserole and love it! I had a bunch of kale left over from a couple of days ago so it worked out real well. We have a ham steak so great dinner. Thanks again
Awesome!! So happy you liked it ! Thanks Kirk!
I love this recipe. I make it vegan by replacing the milk and cream with 1/2 cup cashews blended with 1 cup water. I just leave out the butter. I add in some nutritional yeast also for that cheese flavor and its so good!
Would like to try this yummy looking recipe, but need the nutrition info (I’m loosing weight and log everything in Myfitnesspal). I plan to use gluten-free flour and coconut milk instead of heavy cream, providing there’s nutritional info 🙂
Hi, I am sorry I do not know the nutritional info. You can calculate in online though. Thanks!
What kind of flour would be an appropriate substitute for a gluten free diet?
Hey Lindsay! I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour bled. Let me know if you have other questions, thanks!
This was the first recipe of yours that I tried… now I can’t stop. This was a huge hit, just delish! So were the Crispy Prosciutto Baked Brie Bites, The spicy green chile enchiladas, the Cheesy bacon straws(O.M.G.), the cheesy fontina chorizo artichoke and onion dip…and the sparkling pomegranate punch. All these recipes were perfect, looked and tasted just as beautiful as promised. Thank you so much. I am addicted to HBH -each day I can’t wait to get to my inbox:)
This is so awesome! Thank you so much, Annie!! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!