Turkey and (Cauliflower) Rice Casserole

How was your Thanksgiving!??

I hope it was wonderful! Hubby and I hosted his sister and her husband; it was great to have them here. We love having guests and entertaining and it was so nice to spend the holiday with family since we live so far away from most of ours. I don’t know about you, but I love having a houseful of people. If I could get everyone to travel to our house for every holiday, I’d host every single one!

Did you eat a lot? Yah, we did, too! And by now you might be looking for a creative way to eat up some of that turkey, right?

Try this one; it’s a great way to use up that leftover turkey without feeling like you’re actually eating leftovers. It’s a remake of your typical turkey and rice casserole and uses cauliflower rice, instead.

I’m seriously loving the variety of things I can make with this stuff. So far, every time I sub it for regular rice, it’s been a hit…it’s actually a pleasant surprise, really. I’m Asian, so I love me some rice…so to have found a pleasant substitute that I can feel good about eating, that TASTES good, too? Well, by golly, I’m in.

Ingredients:

· 4 cups cauliflower rice (it’s just shredded fresh cauliflower; one large head will produce about 4 cups.)

· 8 oz leftover turkey or chicken, diced

· 1 cup diced carrots

· 1 cup diced celery

· 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms, chopped

· 1/2 cup onions, chopped

· 1 garlic clove, minced

· 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup (you can use any flavor you like, really)

· 1 cup skim milk

· Salt and pepper, to taste

· Crispy onion topping

· Non-stick spray

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray.

3. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms to the pan and sauté until the celery and carrots soften, about 10 minutes.

4. Add the turkey and cauliflower rice and mix.

5. In a small bowl, add cream soup and milk and combine.

6. Pour the soup mix over the veggie mix and stir until everything is combined; bring to simmer then remove from heat.

7. Spray a baking dish, or individual crocks, with nonstick spray.

8. Transfer the casserole mix to the baking dish or crocks.

9. Sprinkle with crispy onion toppings.

10. Bake until bubbly – about 15-20 minutes.

Since I made individual servings (in these adorable little baking crocks that my Mama gave me), I mixed in some extra goodness for hubby’s by adding shredded cheese. He loved it. Feel free to make it your own!