Charmaine's Kitchen

Wild Rice and Cheese Casserole

This recipe uses wild rice which expands four times when cooked. It may be prepared up to three days earlier, refrigerated, and baked before serving. It will keep refrigerated for a week after it has been cooked. The longer it sits, the better it tastes.

Ingredients

1 cup	wild rice	250 ml
3 cups	boiling water (repeated twice)	750 ml
1 pinch	salt	1 pinch
½ teaspoon	olive oil	2.5 ml
½ cup	onion, chopped (half a cooking onion)	125 ml
3 cups	(about 10-12 medium to small) button mushrooms, sliced	750 ml
1 cup or 2.5 oz	low-fat old cheddar cheese, grated or sliced	250 ml or 75 g
19 oz or 28 oz	can of tomatoes (including liquid)	540 ml or 796 ml

Wash wild rice under cold, running water. In a 2 quart (2 litre) pot stir rice into boiling water. Parboil the rice for five minutes only, then remove the pot from the heat and cover. Let the rice soak in this water for at least an hour.

Drain, wash, and simmer the rice in a second batch of boiling water with salt for half an hour until the rice is nearly tender. Drain the rice if necessary.

Use the oil to saute mushrooms, and onion in a frying pan for about five minutes. In a 2 quart (2 litre) casserole dish mix all the ingredients, cover, and bake at 350 Fahrenheit (175 Celsius) for one hour.

Four (or five, or six) Cheese Vegetarian Lasagna

You can keep the lasagna in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking, or up to a week after baking. You can freeze it for up to a month after it is baked. The longer it sits, the better it tastes.

Ingredients

-----	9	lasagna noodles	9	------
	1 large pot	hard-boiling water	1 large pot
	1 pinch	salt	1 pinch
	½ teaspoon	olive oil	2.5 ml

Tomato Sauce
	½ teaspoon	olive oil	2.5 ml
	½ cup	(½ small) white onion, finely chopped	125 ml
	1½ cups	(5-6 small) button mushrooms, sliced	375 ml
	1-2 cloves	garlic, chopped	1-2 cloves
	1 small	zucchini, finely chopped	1 small
	1	celery stick, finely chopped	1
	1 small	carrot, grated or finely chopped	1 small
	19 oz	can tomatoes	680 ml
	19 oz	can of your favourite pasta sauce	680 ml
	1 cup	texturized vegetable protein (TVP)	250 ml
	1 pinch	salt	1 pinch
	½-1 tablespoon	Italian spice mix OR	7.5-15 ml
	1-2 teaspoons	oregano leaves	5-10 ml
	½-1 teaspoon	basil leaves	2.5-5 ml
	1 pinch	rosemary	1 pinch
	1 pinch	marjoram	1 pinch

Soft Cheese Layer
	2 cups	low fat cottage and/or ricotta cheese	500 ml
	1	egg OR	1
	4 tablespoons	eggbeaters	60 ml

Hard Cheese Layer
	3 cups (12 oz)	low fat mozzarella cheese, grated or sliced	750 ml (350 g)
	2.5 oz	low fat old cheddar cheese, sliced	75 g
	¼ cup	parmesan or romano cheese, grated	60 ml

In a large pot of boiling water, add salt, and oil, and cook lasagne noodles about 12 minutes as directed. Drain water, and lay the noodles flat on a cookie sheet to cool for later handling.

In a 2 quart (2 litre) pot, simmer the cans of tomatoes and pasta sauce. Add desired spices, and softened TVP. (1 cup TVP softened by 7/8 cup boiling water for 5 minutes, or as directed.)

In a frying pan, heat oil to saute onion and mushrooms over a medium heat. Add desired garlic, zucchini, celery, and carrot and cook until softened. Add vegetables to the hot pot of tomatoes.

Grate or slice the mozzarella, and slice the cheddar. Mix the egg into the cottage (and/or ricotta) cheese. Set the noodles, sauce, soft cheese, and hard cheese ready to assemble in a baking dish. In a 3 quart (3 litre) baking dish (13 x 9 x 2-inch) spread a thin layer of tomato sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Arrange an even layer of 3 cooked noodles over the sauce. Spread 1/3 of the remaining sauce evenly over the noodles. Spread 1/3 of the soft cheese mixture over the sauce. Spread 1/3 of the mozzarella evenly over the sauce. Repeat layering noodles, sauce, soft cheese, and mozzarella twice more.

For the top layer of mozzarella, place the square cheddar slices over top of the mozzarella in a checker board pattern, and finally sprinkle the grated Parmesan and/or Romano cheese evenly over the top of both hard cheeses.

Bake uncovered at 350 Fahrenheit (175 Celsius) for 45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Makes 6 - 8 servings.