Mushroom & Spinach Rice Gratin

I intended to be so new years-y with the menus in January but I couldn’t help myself. It is cold and cozy and I made this for Christmas dinner and I can’t stop thinking about it. My food ethos doesn’t label ingredients as “bad” but this is vegetarian comfort food. This is a riff on a Heidi Swanson casserole. She is a wonderful vegetarian recipe writer and creator of the blog 101cookbooks and subsequent cookbooks.

I chop the mushrooms small and if my kids don’t look too closely, it just looks like cheesy rice and I tell them “they’re mushrooms, they taste like meat” which is not always a lie and it does work so don’t judge me. If tofu is not your deal, one cooked, well shredded chicken breast can stand in its place or the token sausage suggestion is mentioned below.