a delightful rice gratin.

I just love gratins! Potato, zucchini, cauliflower... you name it. If it's cheesy and golden on top, I want it. Unfortunately, potatoes aren't all that nutritional and the eggs and cheese can make it kinda rich. When perusing 101cookbooks.com (one of my absolute fave foodie sites), I came across a recipe for a Spinach Rice Gratin that had pine nuts and shredded Manchego cheese in it. I took down the recipe thinking I could easily recreate this with whatever nuts, veggies and cheese I had on hand. This is a great recipe to use when you have leftover rice from the night before and nowhere to go with it but the garbage (or mixed in with the dog food!). This gratin is still made with eggs and cheese, but substantially less than you would normally find in say, a potato gratin. It still tastes delicious but at the same time quite obviously on the healthier side.

I have the original recipe from 101cookbooks.com included below, but when I made the gratin I didn't have any tofu and used Gruyere instead of Manchego. I also added some red pepper flakes and garlic powder. Black olives is one of the few ingredients I just don't like, so left those out as well. A Mediterranean style gratin would be great, too -- try adding roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and feta cheese, and throw in some leftover chopped chicken if you aren't a tofu fan.

spinach & brown rice gratin
2 1/2 c. leftover/pre-cooked brown rice, room temp
1 1/2 c. well finely chopped spinach
4 oz firm organic tofu, crumbled
10 black olives, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/3 c. pine nuts or almonds, toasted and chopped
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 c. shredded Manchego
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
Freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Grease a 10-inch round or square baking dish with a bit of EVOO. In large bowl combine the rice, spinach and tofu. Reserving a bit of each for garnish, stir in the olives, red onion, pine nuts and EVOO. Now stir in 1/4 cup of the cheese. In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and salt. Fold the eggs into rice mixture, pour into prepared baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until casserole is set, and the top toasty and golden. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining onions, olives and nuts. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and fresh cracked pepper before serving. Serves 8-12.