Ya'll remember my story about my husband having his hip replaced? Yes? No? No matter, cause the best part of his surgery (although husband may disagree here) was our close friends, John and Carol, brought us some of the most amazing broccoli casserole I've EVER had in my life. I talked Carol into sharing the recipe with me and now I'm going to share it with you!!!! At our church, if there are 5 Sunday's in the month, on the 5th Sunday we have a covered dish lunch. Some of the best food I've ever tasted in my life I've had at church on 5th Sunday. I made this dish last Sunday and took it. There was maybe 5 tablespoons left........(fortunately, this recipe makes a huge amount and I had set some aside for us!!!)
Since it was the first time I'd made it using Carol's recipe I was a little apprehensive. Nothing ever tastes quite as good as when someone else makes it. Well, it tasted exactly like Carol's.
Carol's Broccoli Rice Recipe (for 9 x 13 casserole dish - makes ALOT - the casserole dish will be full)
Ingredients
celery, chopped (2 cups) - I think I used 3-4 ribs
1 large white onion, chopped (approximately 2 cups)
Broccoli - I used two 26 oz. bags of frozen chopped or florets broccoli (or at least 3 large bunches of fresh broccoli florets) - whatever floats your boat
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cut up into cubes
2-1/2 cups butter (oh yeahhhhhh........butter!!!!)
2 can's Cream of Mushroom Soup
2-1/4 cups long grain rice, cooked
Pam cooking spray
Preparation
Rice: Place 1-1/4 cups of rice in pan and add 2-1/2 cups water and 3 teaspoons butter. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is fluffy (if some gets burned, just don't add that part! lol.) Dump into a large (AKA HUGE BOWL) bowl and set aside.
Broccoli: Place all of the broccoli in a large pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let boil until broccoli can be broken up with a fork. Drain (being especially careful not to drain on your foot - but we won't go there!!!)and then set aside to cool and then chop into smaller pieces. I left mine in the strainer after draining and cut it into smaller pieces with a sharp knife.
I had the rice and broccoli cooking while I was making the sauce. That way the rice and broccoli were done about the time I had finished the sauce.
The Sauce: melt 3-1/2 sticks of butter in a large skillet. To this, add the chopped celery and saute until just about done. Then add the chopped onions to the celery and butter and finish cooking until both the celery and onions are soft. Add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, stir and mix thoroughly. To this, add the 2 cups of cubed cheese a few at a time while they melt evenly, until all cheese has been used.
Now add the broccoli to the bowl with the cooked rice and mix it up. Gradually add your sauce to the broccoli/rice mixture. Stir and mix as you go. If it's soupy looking, that's great!
Spray your 9 x 13 casserole dish with Pam cooking spray and then add mixture. Cook uncovered in a 350 degree oven until browned and bubbling.
Now, if you need even more than this, here's the recipe for the 6 x 11 casserole dish.
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1-1/2 sticks of butter
2 cups cooked rice (1 cup of rice to 2 cups water)
2 cups broccoli florets or chopped broccoli
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed
Use instructions above to prepare this smaller dish.
I hope you enjoy this. Please let me know how you like it!!!!! :)
~Blessings~
Sandi
P.S. JENNIFER!!!! WHERE'S THE SALSA?
