I’m going to be honest and tell you that before I learned how to really appreciate real food, I bought everything in a box or bag. I didn’t make anything from scratch.
Well, except for chocolate chip cookies and brownies.
But as for food, I was that person who poured all their food out of prepackaged containers.
This included rice. We had rice at every meal because it was only $.99 / box and easy to make. Add butter. Add water. Cook for 45 minutes. Done.
Truth be told, I actually liked this rice. A lot. Taste. Cost. Taste.
This was until I made a Mexican rice casserole that I found in one of my go to cookbooks, Nourishing Traditions by the infamous Sally Fallon.
I was utterly impressed the first time I made it. It was so creamy and had this amazing, wonderful taste. Real. Authentic. Cheesy. Creamy. Cheesy some more.
Anything with cheese and crème fraiche is amazing and so French. Even in a Mexican dish. Making crème fraiche is simple, easy and the absolute best sub for sour cream! Read my quick tutorial on how to do this in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Amazing what happens when you eat real food. Your taste buds go wild!
Now, I haven’t bought boxed rice in probably 7-8 years now. But all this really means is that we really haven’t had rice for 7-8 years, because without the box containing the spice pack that didn’t contain many real food ingredients and tons of sodium – rice is just boring. Especially brown rice. Just being honest. Boring to eat and boring to make. Nothing worse than being bored in the kitchen.
We don’t eat white rice (high sugar content) and brown rice is bland, so we just didn’t eat any. Ever. So I had to substitute our rice-lacking diet with something.
So, we ate morechocolate chip cookies instead. Welcome to my world and reasoning.
I guess it’s due time to stop the perpetual batches of my amazing cookies so we can actually eat rice with our Mexican dishes now.
Although, I think chocolate goes with any meal, so we could always have a small cookie with our burritos and enchiladas.
Hmmm. Sounds good to me.
I think this dish is easy to prepare. Not super quick, but the majority of the time involved from start to finish is cooking the rice and baking the dish, so you’re not working in the kitchen the whole time. I typically soak my rice for 24 hours before I prepare it to help break down the phytic acid that makes digestion difficult. Then I prepare using chicken stock. I do prepare mine a little differently than most people, so I guess I should do a post on exactly how I soak and prepare rice.
For this recipe I used organic wild rice and I like it better than long grain brown rice. You can choose which rice you’d like to use, but I would definitely stay away from white rice. There is no nutritional value in it whatsoever. As always I suggest you use the best and most high quality ingredients you can find. Organic, raw, fresh. Make your own stock and crème fraiche. I believe this is what makes the dish taste so great – using the right ingredients.
Deep Dish Mexican Rice Casserole
What You Need:
- 4 cups wild rice, already prepared (I always soak mine first)
- 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack or Sharp Cheddar Cheese (separating 1/2 cup for topping)
- 2 bunches green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup black olives, chopped or diced
- 1/4-1/3 cup chile peppers, chopped or diced
- 1 cup crème fraiche (how to make your own)
What You Do:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees
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Prepare a glass baking dish by buttering it or covering it in warmed coconut oil.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients (except the 1/2 cup separated cheese) and mix together well.
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Pour the contents of the bowl into the baking dish and flatten it out.
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Top with the remaining cheese.
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Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.
*this recipe is taken from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
Next time you want some flare with your Mexican themed meal – try this Deep Dish Mexican Rice Casserole. If you like crème fraiche and cheese, you’ll be a fan of this, no doubt! Share it. Pin it. Make it.
Now, go throw away those boxes of fake rice and chemical-laden seasoning packets and make you some real rice! Your taste buds will do a happy dance. I promise.
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