I made a tasty casserole tonight. I whipped up a quick batch of Jennifer Eloff’s low-carb Condensed Mushroom Soup. I just love her recipe (made in food processor with no cooking) and use it ALL all the time for casserole making! It makes enough for TWO casseroles, so I only use half a recipe in this creation. I added ground beef, 1½ c. leftover wild-white rice blend I wanted out of the fridge, and a few other things for a delicious end result. Due to the rice in this recipe, it is not acceptable until you get to the grains level of the carb-reintroduction ladder in Atkins Phase 2 OWL. Because of that rice, this recipe is a clearly little carbier than most of my recipes. But you could lower carbs for this by using less rice blend and more hemp hearts. That’s your decision, of course. I will provide a second set of macros for those that must so this to be able to include this tasty dish in their dietary regimen.
This recipe is not suitable until you are nearer to your goal weight.
INGREDIENTS:
14 oz. ground beef, 90% (I buy bulk & package for freezing in 10-12 oz. packs)
4 oz. red onion, chopped or sliced
4 oz. fresh mushrooms sliced quite large
½ recipe Jennifer Eloff’s low-carb Condensed Mushroom Soup
1½ c. cooked wild-white rice (I usually cook 3/4 c. raw in 1½ c. water for 18 min. lowest heat)
1/3 c. Hemp Hearts
6 oz. coarsely cut up broccoli (I include stems)
1 c. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (or mozzarella)
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Place 3/4 rice blend in 1½ c. water in 2 qt. saucepan. Bring to boil. Lower to lowest heat. Wrap lid with paper towels double thick. Place lid tightly on pot and simmer lowest heat for 18 min. Remove and set aside.
Make the soup recipe by those instructions at the link above, reserving half the recipe in refrigerator for another use. Set what you’re using aside for now.
Over medium-high heat, brown beef in a large skillet. Add onion and sauté until onion is getting tender. Add mushrooms and continue cook, stirring often until mushrooms are no longer opaque. Lower heat to medium-low. Add in the ½ recipe of condensed soup, 1½ c. rice only and the hemp hearts. Stir all well to blend. You can bake/serve this right from the skillet, or pour it out into a greased casserole dish. Press the pieces of broccoli gently & evenly into the meat/rice mixture. Cover with lid or piece of foil, place into 350º oven for 20 minutes. Pull out of oven and remove lid. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, around the broccoli as best you can. Bake for 10 minutes more to melt the cheese. I served mine with a colorful cucumber and tomato mint salad.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes eight 1-cup servings. Each contains:
348 cals, 23g fat, 22g carbs, 3g fiber, 19g NET CARBS, 19g protein, 247 mg sodium
If you decide to reverse the rice and hemp hearts to drastically reduce carbs (using ½ c. rice + 1 c. hemp hearts, each serving has: Flavor of final dish will be slightly different……..slightly more nutty tasting.
426 cals, 31g fat, 18g carbs, 3g fiber, 15g NET CARBS, 24g protein, 247 mg sodium