Broccoli and Turkey Rice Casserole

Well hello winter! We got a whopping 2 1/2 feet of snow this week in a snow storm lovingly coined "Cleon" by some comical meterologist. I don't know where the A and B named storms were, as I thought they did them in alphabetical order, and this was our first blast of snow thus far.  Cleon sounds like someone who lives in a bayou rather than an unrelenting blizzard, but no one asked me to name it. If they had I may have came up with Esmerelda or Daminen or something.... We've just been settling into our house for the past month, and this unexpected blast of snow followed by 30 degrees below wind-chill has left me day-dreaming of spring already. While winter technically hasn't even begun, I may as well put on my best Northern girl face and wool socks and get ready to live through another cold winter.

The snow was absolutely beautiful, however. Endless hours of shimmering silver diamonds pouring from the sky, piling up to the top of the deck even!  We also got some amazing footage of a Barred Owl fluffing his handsome feathers  in a tree, which was very neat indeed.

 While the wind whips outside, it's time to get ready to be indoors a lot more, which for many of us  of course means doing a lot of cooking and baking. I ended up freezing about 5 pounds of cooked turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving, because even after everyone got a doggy bag we still had plenty of remnants.  I decided it was called for to embrace my Minnesota heritage and whip up something akin to a "hot-dish" to heat up the house and warm our frozen snow-shovel wielding souls.

Broccoli and Turkey Rice Casserole

-3 cups white rice

-2 cups cooked turkey, diced

-1 1/2  cup cheddar cheese

-1 medium yellow onion, chopped

-2 cups broccoli

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 can cream of mushroom soup

-1 can water

-1/4 cup parsley, chopped

-2 T. basil

Directions: Preheat oven to 370 degrees. Cook rice according to package directions. Combine all ingredients and 1 cup of cheese and place in 9x13 glass baking dish, and cover with  aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes or until warm. Top with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.

This casserole screams Minnesota comfort food. 

It's a simple dish that's perfect if you've got a picky eater on board, with a bit of cheesy flair.  It's just plain old good! Enjoy!