One factor the Dickinson School Farm likes to do is host cooking courses for our college students on campus! We carry professors and different farm pals in to show a recipe, put the scholars to work, and collectively get pleasure from their creation in spite of everything is claimed and accomplished. We love to focus on the School Farm’s natural veggies in these recipes! As a deal with to our weblog readers, we’ll start posting the cooking class recipes so you’ll be able to comply with alongside at dwelling. Our firstclass of the autumn 2024 semester was held on October twenty ninth and featured a “Clear Out the Fridge Rice Casserole”. School Farm elements included kohlrabi, carrots, celery, onion, kale, garlic, bell pepper, and parsley. As you’ll be able to see within the recipe under, this casserole is versatile for the kind of greens and durable greens used, and you may swap out the roasted hen for leftover Turkey from Thanksgiving! Give this recipe a try to get pleasure from it with your loved ones and pals 🙂 

Clear-Out-the-Fridge Rice Casserole                                                                       Adrienne Su

Serves 6 to eight

  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil (or the packing oil from sun-dried tomatoes, if it occurs to be round)
  • 1-1/2 to 2 lbs. leftover cooked hen or turkey meat (or meat from a rotisserie hen), ideally from a brined, roasted hen
  • 4-8 oz. leafy greens (spinach, kale leaves, chard leaves, chopped chard stems, radish leaves, and/or turnip greens), washed totally to take away all sand and drained
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 2 cups sturdy greens, minced/diced (carrots, celery, skinny kale or collard stems, turnips, daikon, kohlrabi, celery root, and/or leeks)
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced (divided)
  • 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 3 cups hen broth (be happy to combine within the numerous flavorful elixirs that occur to be round: meat or seafood inventory, leftover white wine, leftover juices from canned tomatoes, bean-cooking liquid, cooking liquid from leafy greens, kimchi juice; it’s additionally advantageous to high up the broth combination with water in the event you’re brief by a cup or so)
  • 1-1/2 cups long-grain white rice (Lundberg Natural Lengthy-Grain White frees you of the rinsing step; keep away from clumping varieties, similar to jasmine)
  • 1 Tbsp. paprika
  • 2 cups quick-cooking greens (diced bell peppers, diced zucchini or yellow squash, frozen peas, contemporary or frozen corn kernels)
  • ¼ cup minced, pitted olives (or capers, or any of those, minced: anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, smoked salmon)
  • 4 to eight oz. grated cheese (go nearer to 4 oz. in the event you use an assertive grating cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano; you’ll be able to go as much as 8 oz. with Cheddar or Gruyère or mozzarella)
  • Salt and pepper (kosher salt is assumed right here; use a bit much less in the event you’re utilizing desk salt)
  • 2/3 cup panko (or crumbs comprised of your bread leftovers: toast till brittle, then whir in blender or meals processor—a number of chunks are advantageous, as is having barely lower than 2/3 cup or as a lot as 1-1/2 cups)
  • ½ cup minced parsley
  • 1 lemon or lime

 

  1. Minimize the hen or turkey into bite-sized items and put aside. (In case your kitchen is sizzling and/otherwise you’re taking your time, cowl and refrigerate.)
  2. Put the leafy greens in a big microwave-safe bowl with residual washing water nonetheless clinging to them. It’s OK to pack them tightly. Cowl and microwave on excessive till they wilt (1-2 minutes for normal spinach, as much as 5 minutes for kale if it’s robust). Drain, saving the cooking liquid to make use of as a few of the broth if you want, then chop the greens roughly (you are able to do this with kitchen shears, proper within the colander) and put aside.
  3. In a big, heavy Dutch oven, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium warmth. Add the onion, sturdy greens, and a beneficiant sprinkling of salt and pepper, and cook dinner, stirring from time to time, till greens are simply tender, about 10 minutes. Add 3 garlic cloves’ value of minced garlic, cook dinner and stir for one more minute, after which add flour. Prepare dinner and stir till flour is now not uncooked, a couple of minute. Add the milk and broth, cowl, elevate warmth to excessive, and convey to a boil. (It will go quicker in the event you heat the broth within the microwave whereas the greens are softening.)
  4. Whereas the combination is coming to a boil, wash the rice if wanted, and drain nicely. (When you do that forward, don’t depart the rice sitting in water or it could break down an excessive amount of throughout cooking.)
  5. Add the rice to the boiling broth, alter the warmth in order that liquid is at a simmer, and season with paprika. When you used unsalted broth, add a tablespoon of salt. Cowl the pot and cook dinner over medium-low till rice is simply tender, about 20 minutes.
  6. Whereas rice is cooking, put oven rack in upper-middle place and preheat oven to 400 levels. In a small bowl, combine the panko, parsley, remaining minced garlic, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, and salt and pepper to style.
  7. As soon as rice is completed, combine within the reserved poultry, quick-cooking greens, reserved leafy greens, olives, and cheese. Style and alter for salt, pepper, and paprika. (That is additionally a great time so as to add any seasonings of your alternative, which the elements would possibly level to, similar to cumin and Mexican oregano in case your leftover poultry got here from a Mexican dish, or thyme and crushed fennel seeds if issues are leaning towards France, and so forth.) Stir combination gently however totally, taking care to not smash delicate add-ins, and switch to a 9×13” baking dish. Unfold evenly within the dish.
  8. Prime with the panko combination, then bake uncovered till the topping is crisp and brown and every little thing is heated by, about 20 minutes. 
  9. Serve with the lemon or lime, minimize into wedges.

Good with a easy inexperienced salad or a light-weight vegetable soup.

Regardless that that is comprised of leftovers, it makes nice leftovers!

Different concepts for add-ins:

  • IN STEP 2:
    • well-washed beet greens and stems in the event you don’t thoughts the rice turning pink, during which case, leftover purple wine can also be advantageous within the broth combination
  • IN STEP 3:
    • frozen shelled edamame
    • diced butternut squash
  • IN STEP 8:
    • cherry tomatoes, halved, seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and broiled till collapsing, about 5 minutes
    • coarsely chopped kimchi
    • cooked beans: chickpeas are particularly good as a result of they maintain their form, however black, pinto, purple kidney, and so forth. are all good
    • minced scallions (each white and inexperienced elements)
    • the final little bit of your bag of coleslaw combine (shredded cabbage and carrot)
    • the final little bit of your container of child arugula or child kale

MORE ANTI-WASTE TIPS:

  • If you wish to embrace a small quantity of one thing however know the rest is prone to rot in your fridge, purchase solely the amount you want from a salad bar: olives, celery, carrot, bell pepper, purple onion, and spinach can often be discovered there.
  • This recipe could make use of the bits of a roast hen that typically get forgotten: the “oysters” within the again, the breast meat left clinging to the bones after carving. These are sometimes very flavorful due to their proximity to the bone, particularly if the hen was brined earlier than roasting.
  • There isn’t a disgrace in utilizing chicken-broth focus in the event you don’t have time to make inventory. The model Higher Than Bouillon is sweet.
  • If you end up habitually throwing sure gadgets away (similar to canned beans generated by recipes that use 3/5 of the can), begin a bag in your freezer for add-ins, and mark the bag together with your plans for it. Ensure to not combine gadgets which can be added in numerous steps. Then go to your calendar and enter the date you’re going to make the casserole in order that these bits don’t languish for years within the freezer.
  • You possibly can freeze grated cheese in the identical means.
  • A vegetarian model of this dish could be made with extremely seasoned tofu instead of the hen and good vegetable inventory.
  • In case you have an open log of goat cheese that’s headed for fridge-languishing, dot the completed casserole with it earlier than baking.
  • Leftover meat contains restaurant leftovers! So long as the flavors are suitable, take dwelling that final kebab or meatball that everybody was too well mannered to assert, minimize into small items, and embrace in step 1.