Cara's Zucchini & Rice Casserole, with a twist!

I wanted to use up my garden tomatoes that are in plentiful supply right now, in addition to some fresh zucchini my mother in law was kind enough to give Matt and I. I remember reading this recipe in Cara’s blog and thinking it sounded really yummy and summery. I sort of combined her recipe with one I found on epicurious. The epicurious recipe called for chard, and I didn’t have any, so I subbed spinach. That is really the only inspiration I received from this recipe, but I really though the spinach added a nice touch to this dish, so I must give credit where credit it due!

Now, this meal needs TONS of work presentation-wise, but it was delicious! Matt was nervous since there was no meat, but he enjoyed it, and after a second helping, was quite full.

I basically followed the directions for Cara’s recipe, I just added spinach to the mxutre. After I wilted the spinach, I had to squeeze all the water out so the casserole didn’t get too mushy and liquid-y. I also had to use white rice because I didn’t have enough brown rice. I was pretty bummed, even though I love the taste of white rice, because I am trying SO HARD to eat better these days! Also, my husband despises both cottage and feta cheese, so I had to improvise. I added a little parmesan and asiago in with the rice mixture and added a layer of reduced fat cheddar in the casserole. I lined the bottom with tomatoes, then added half of the rice/zucchini/spinach/onions/spices mixture , a layer of the reduced fat cheddar, then the remaining rice mixture. Topped with tomatoes, and added more parm and asiago.