Sausage, Egg, Spinach, and Rice Casserole (Dairy Free)

Hot breakfasts are lovely, though I rarely eat them, except on mornings when I attend MOPS.  I decided to be daring again and adapt a previous dairy free casserole recipe---this time for a larger group.  Why do I experiment like this so often when the stakes are high?  Ideally I would test the new recipe at home first, but duty called, and I was short on time (as usual).

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground sausage, crumbled
2 cups cooked rice
8 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp flax milk or rice milk
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup (packed) chopped fresh spinach
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika

How to Make It:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown sausage in a medium saute pan. Turn off heat and add green onions and spinach.  Remove sausage mixture from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, salt, paprika and flax milk (or rice milk). Add beaten eggs and whisk to blend. Stir in browned sausage mixture and rice.
3. Into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, pour egg, sausage and rice mixture.
4. Bake at 350 F degrees for 50 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle.

All of the ingredients were what I had on hand, and hence I did not use squash.  The sausage and spinach mingled well, as I suspected.  Success was not certain until I tasted the dish myself and gauged the reactions of the other women at the meeting.  My aim was that no one would notice the missing cheese and milk.   And even though a casserole without dairy is almost inconceivable, desperation triumphed.  I photographed what was left.

There is now another casserole recipe to enjoy on my MSPI diet.

This recipe can be found at Pennywise Platter Thursday at the Nourishing Gourmet.

Recipe for Mango Spoon Bread (Gluten Free)

This past week I embarked on a new kitchen adventure--making spoon bread. After two rounds of experimenting, I came up with the fruited version below, which is based on the More With Less basic spoon bread recipe.   Here's my take on a Southern classic:

Since it is so flavorful and nutrient-rich, I like to add molasses to any bread recipe that I can manage.  And in this case, molasses complements the cornmeal flavor beautifully.   The mango and pecans add fruitiness and a rich flavor that allow the spoon bread to be served as either a side dish or a dessert.

As a bonus, I discovered that making spoon bread is a great way to use up fresh milk!  We don't drink dairy milk, so I am always looking for recipes that can help me use up milk before it sours.  This recipe calls for 2 cups of milk altogether, but if you like, the ingredients can be doubled (or tripled) to serve more people.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk, divided
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tbsp. molasses
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 mango, diced
• chopped pecans, optional
• whipped cream, optional

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat 1 and 1/2 cups milk with cornmeal, stirring constantly until thickened.
2. Remove cornmeal from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cold milk.  Add eggs, molasses, sugar, and salt.
3. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until center of spoon bread is set.
4. Remove spoon bread from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Then use a spoon to break up the spoon bread and mix in mango pieces.  Place individual servings in ramekins, if desired, and top with chopped pecans and/or whipped cream.

Recipe for Turkey Sausage and Egg Casserole (Gluten and Casein Free)

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. turkey breakfast sausage
  
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 4 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 cup grated yellow squash or zucchini
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup rice milk
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

How to Make It:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown sausage in a medium saute pan (there is a homemade turkey sausage recipe here). Turn off heat and add grated squash (it will cook somewhat with the retained heat). Remove sausage and squash mixture from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard and rice milk. Add beaten eggs and whisk to blend. Stir in browned sausage and grated squash.
3. In a greased 2 quart baking dish, press cooked rice to form bottom layer of casserole. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt evenly over rice. Add egg and sausage mixture.
4. Bake at 350 F degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle.

This recipe is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at the Nourishing Gourmet.