Fridge/Garden Clean-Out Baked Tofu Rice Casserole

Many years ago, I worked for a non-profit environmental education organization. The first time I had this dish, the founder of the organization, who was vegetarian and a force of nature, brought it to a potluck. I’m not normally a tofu lover (and I’ve even gone so far as to make it from scratch from ground soy beans) but I loved it in this dish and asked her for the recipe. Here are her original directions:

• Cooked rice
• 1 can diced tomatoes (flavored)
• 1 package baked tofu (Italian or other flavored)
• 1/2 pack feta cheese
• Artichoke bottoms
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 package raw spinach
• Garlic powder
• Jack or other cheese, shredded

Mix all ingredients and place in a baking pan. Add water/bouillon if seems too dry. Bake at 350 until hot and crispy.

Ha. Not a lot to go on, but honestly, you don’t need much to go on. This recipe is infinitely variable and hard to mess up.

Here’s my more fleshed out version.

Anne's Baked Rice Tofu Casserole

• Servings: 6-8
• Prep Time: 30 minutes or less
• Cook Time: 30-45 minutes
• Difficulty: easy to moderate
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An infinitely variable healthy weeknight meal

You can make this with off the shelf grocery staples such as already baked tofu, canned tomatoes etc. or you can fill this with fresh garden goodies based on your time and energy. Either way its filling, inexpensive, healthy and tasty. I leave out the artichoke bottoms as I’ve never been a fan of canned artichokes. Include if you so desire. And I tend to go heavy on the veg and light on the rice, but you could double the amount of rice if you liked. Of course, this could also be made with any other protein of your choice if you weren’t looking for a vegetarian meal.

This reheats beautifully for lunch the next day in the microwave.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup raw rice, cooked according to package directions. I used brown rice here, and my trusty rice cooker. A couple of cups of leftover cooked rice would also work just fine.
• One block firm tofu, sliced into 4 slabs (if you’re baking it yourself) or 1 package of already baked tofu of choice, diced.
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 cups diced tomato (or a 15 oz can of diced tomato, drained)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1 diced zucchini or other summer squash (or most other veg of choice – broccoli would be good here too, or eggplant)
• 8 oz (one bunch) of greens of choice, or frozen greens, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• Red pepper flakes or hot sauce (to taste)
• 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, minced, or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Spices of choice (Italian seasoning, splash of soy sauce or terriyaki sauce, chili powder, curry powder, sriracha, depending on which way you’re taking it).
• 1/2 to 1 cup shredded melting cheese such as cheddar or Monterey jack.

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Directions

1. If baking the tofu, cut into 4 slabs that are about 1/2 inch thick, place on a greased baking pan, sprinkle with spice mix of choice – an all purpose seasoning is fine here if you’re not feeling creative – and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Flip and bake another 15 minutes. Online recipes will have you press to remove water and dredge in cornstarch to try to get a more crispy edge, but because this is getting folded into a casserole and baked, that seems too fiddly to me. Dice tofu once cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large 9 x 13 baking dish.
3. You can saute the vegetables for a bit before incorporating into the mixture, but I normally don’t bother. I WOULD if I were using a very firm vegetable like a carrot.
4. Mix cooked rice with all other ingredients except shredded cheese in a large bowl.
5. Place mixture into your baking dish and top with shredded cheese.
6. Bake until heated through and top begins to crisp a bit, 30 – 45 minutes.

© 2021 Miles Away Farm, where we’re miles away from being full time vegetarians, but enjoy eating that way frequently, and will make any casserole that uses up a zucchini sitting on the counter. Want more content? Sign up for a monthly newsletter to your email inbox HERE.