The holidays are coming.
Are you looking for something new to put on your table this year?
Are you thinking about defying tradition and serving something other than Green Bean Casserole with your Thanksgiving turkey?
Maybe you just decided to make life a bit easier for yourself….
If you want to stay with a fall favorite here are 2 dishes that can be made ahead and baked just before serving: Butternut Squash and Rice Gratin and Butternut Squash Polenta Gratin. They could be made even more easily with canned pumpkin purée.
Even easier is this Carrot-Rice gratin:
Click here to Pin Carrot Rice Gratin
PrintCarrot-Rice Gratin
I always have carrots in the fridge and rice in the pantry so this easy gratin can be made anytime. It can easily be doubled or tripled. With a holiday dinner this recipe would serve 4 at least.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Sides
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (3.3oz, 95gr) Basmati rice
- 1 cup (8oz, 250ml) chicken broth
- 2 medium carrots, cleaned, shredded
- 1 cup (8oz, 250ml) milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbs chives, fresh or dried
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 125ml) Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) shredded cheese
- 1/2 tbs olive oil
Instructions
- Cook rice in chicken stock.
- Lightly whisk eggs.
- Add milk, yogurt and herbs, whisk to combine.
- When rice is done, stir in the carrots and let sit for a minute to cool slightly.
- Add the rice and carrots to the eggs along with half of the cheese. Stir well.
- Lightly oil a glass baking dish (1 qt, 1 litre).
- Spoon carrot-rice mixture into dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake, uncovered, 400F (200C) for 30 minutes.
- Remove and serve.
Notes
I shredded the carrots using the medium holes on the a box shredder. Substitute plain yogurt or sour cream for the Greek yogurt.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
- Calories: 544
- Sugar: 12.8 g
- Sodium: 715.5 mg
- Fat: 22.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 53.2 g
- Fiber: 2.4 g
- Protein: 30.4 g
- Cholesterol: 230.9 mg
To make ahead: cook the rice and shred the carrots. Cover and refrigerate (together is fine). Finish assembling and bake for 40 minutes (assuming everything is cold).
I have this as serving 2. For us, with a chicken breast or pork chop, we eat almost all of it, with a small portion left for someone’s lunch.
On a different topic…..
Someone (me), who made fun of people running out to get Fitbits and Apple watches and such, am now thinking about it.
In my defense, the tech has been around long enough, and updated often enough, that it should have all the bugs out and be pretty sophisticated by now.
I had no interest in counting my steps which seemed to be what everyone I knew wanted it for. It didn’t take me long to tire of listening to people compare how many steps they took on a given day.
But I recently saw the one a friend had and it did all sorts of stuff that does interest me: heart rate monitoring during exercise, info on sleep habits, stress monitor, GPS (Joking on that… It’s offered but I live in the middle of nowhere France. If I got lost I’d look for a church steeple.)
However, I’m still not convinced that I would use it after the first few days of enjoying a new toy.
Do you have a smart watch? Do you use it?
If so, what do you like / not like about it?
Do you have a recommendation?
Inquiring minds want to know….
I am all for defying tradition and so this year I have already been rostered to work…it will.be good pay !
We had a leg of lamb last year for Christmas…. We lost tradition a long time ago lol
I have a Fitbit (Versa 3). I looked at the Apple Watch, but felt there were too many features that I would never use, therefore not (for me) worth the money.
Yes I count my steps (and due to bad knees my target number is low), and I get a reminder at 10 minutes before the hour if I’ve taken 250 steps during that hour. But, it’s setup for just 7am-3pm. and it’s a subtle vibration that I can easily ignore. I do like to be reminded to get away from my desk on a regular basis.
the app lets me track my weight (hopefully loss) and I can do it (or not) on the days I want to.
The watch/app does track my exercise, either automatically if I move for more than t0 minutes, or I can tell it I’m walking, or hiking or riding a stationary bike. Either on the watch or in the app.
I don’t use the wallet, Pandora or weather on my wrist.
I can (and have) changed the watch face to find the one I like. I get the free one(s), I like an analog watch face. with the date and day displayed.
I don’t let the watch constantly sync with the app, too much battery power is used. I do a manual sync when I feel like it.
hope that helps!
Thanks – yes, that does help… especially the tips on using it. There are so many options it’s a little mind-boggling to start looking lol. And I have to do it myself (as usual) rather than go into a computer store and ask questions from a teenage expert. lol
Oh my. You can’t replace green bean casserole! J’adore green bean casserole!
Sure, add another vegetable dish like your butternut or carrot squash gratin – it looks delicious. But you HAVE to have green bean casserole (the “from scratch” version) too.
For Canadian Thanksgiving, we don’t have the tradition of serving green bean casserole. For thanksgiving, we had steamed green beans with butter and toasted slivered almonds. And baked, then mashed butternut squash. (But thank you for the reminder that it’s high time to make Green Bean casserole.)
Sorry, but most Americans would not accept Green Bean Casserole from scratch. It must be made only by opening cans. Fresh ingredients are not allowed. I once added fresh herbs to it and was forbidden to ever make it again.
I’m back!! My 95 year old, Navy/WWII Pacific Theater survivor father in law has been hospitalized for the past 10 days with covid after being fully vaccinated. He was discharged to rehab yesterday. My sister in law who lives with him, was diagnoses Sunday. While one would think it wouldn’t really affect us (we’re about 40 miles from them and haven’t seen them in a couple of weeks prior) you’d be surprised.
I have a regular, little square Fitbit that does nothing more than counts my steps and have had it since they were first introduced. I wore it when I worked in the hospital still and it did what it was supposed to do. I don’t think I’d bother with one now. I’ve read pros and cons to the sleep information and it would do me no good anyway because I can’t wear anything when I sleep. I get good info from a pulse/ox on my finger for heart rate and saturation and I just pop that on right after I use the treadmill though on my treadmill, I have a spot on the handles that I can grab that will also give me the same results. I know, you walk outside, but where I’m at, I have to drive somewhere to walk and I don’t really care to do that. It’s just not the same for me. My oldest has an Apple watch, but she wears and uses it at work, as a nurse.
Sorry to hear about the covid cases. I just found out that my niece in WI has it – unvaccinated. Don’t ask.
I ended up getting an Amazafit watch for the hubs that does just what he wants (all health related – no exercise) and he’s happy. I got a Fitbit for me and am debating keeping it lol.
Ha! Silly them. I love the idea of fresh herbs in green bean casserole (from scratch)
But I’ll remember that if we ever have Americans here for Thanksgiving and have the audacity to serve green bean casserole from scratch (with maybe a few fresh herbs added too). We’ll warn them that there is no accounting for what foreigners will do to their traditional dishes.