Wild Rice Casserole
Wild Rice Casserole
1 lb meat - ground bison is our go-to
1lb cooked wild rice (about 1 cup dry? need to confirm because I usually prep a bunch all at once)
2 tbsp oil, bacon grease, or butter
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 can cream of _____ soup (our go-to's are: chicken, mushroom, and celery)
1/2 cup bacon pieces (or about 4 strips thick cut bacon, chopped)
2 tbsp better than boullion vegetable base, or any boullion with some water to dissolve and mix it in
Spices to taste: salt, pepper, MSG, thyme, sage, etc.
Most one-pan or casserole recipes I find will follow a cooking pattern: fat (bacon’s good for this step), aromatics, meat, seasoning, “carbohydrate” base (noodle, rice, veggies, etc.), and finishers including more delicate herbs (we use basil a lot) or cheese. Again, you can cook and prepare a lot of this separately or ahead of time but you don’t have to. Once you have your ingredients prepped (cook the rice, dice the veggies, cook the bacon), it's really simple.
Heat oil in a large skillet and put in onion, carrot, and celery. Cook 5-7 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.
Put in your choice of meat with the aromatics, break it up and fry it until it's cooked thoroughly. You *might* need to drain it, if you used ground chuck or sausage. Bison and ground round are a lot leaner and don't always need draining.
Mix in the can of soup, fill the can about halfway (or more if you want) with water, boullion, cooked wild rice, and bacon, heat it all up, season to taste, and you're done!