Green Rice

Ok, I know this is not an Irish dish, but it green so I am making this a St. Patrick's Day recipe blog.  This rice dish was always a family favorite and was always on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table when I was young.  The origins of this recipe is unknown but my family is Norwegian and am assuming that is the roots of this dish but I may be wrong.  It was from my Grandmother handed down to my Mother and now me.  It is a dish that always reminds me of family gatherings of my youth.  I hope you give it a try, it is a great dish.

Green Rice

1 Medium Green pepper, rough cut

1 bunch Green onions, trimmed and rough cut

1 bunch Fresh parsley, remove stems

¼ cup Vegetable oil

2 cups Milk

4  Eggs

1 Tsp. Salt

2 cups Instant Rice, uncooked

2 cups Sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a blender, combine pepper, onions, parsley, oil, milk, eggs, and salt.  Blend until a frothy green liquid.  Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray, add rice, cheese and blended mixture and stir to combine.

Cover dish and bake approximately ½ hour and gently stir.  Remove lid and continue baking another ½ hour or until rice is slightly browned around the edge.

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Cooking tip:

If your blender isn't big enough to take all of the ingredients at one time,  add only one cup of milk and blend on a high speed, and then add the other cup of milk to the casserole dish with the rice and cheese.

Rough chop vegetables

Add all ingredients to blender except for the rice and cheese.  If you don't have enough room in your blender, hold out one cup of milk and add to the casserole dish later.

Blend until a green frothy liquid.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray, add rice and the liquid mixture.

Add cheese.

This is what the mixture looks like before going into the oven.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for a half hour.

Stir rice well making sure to get the bottom and sides.

Bake another half hour uncovered.

I dedicate this posting to my Mom, Ann who taught and inspired me to cook and the whole Jamtaas family (Grandma Phyllis, Grandpa Norm, Dad (Bob), Dave, Sue, Scott, Cheryl, Donn, Lish, Margo, Jamie and all the cousins, remembering the good times during the holidays.