Zucchini Rice Casserole

Source (via pinterest)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 cups diced zucchini and/or summer squash
2 red or green bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, diced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces turkey sausage, casings removed
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapenos (I used fresh jalapenos, finely diced)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Pour rice into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bring broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Stir hot broth into the rice along with zucchini, bell peppers, onion, and salt. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 35 to 45 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, whisk milk and flour in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until bubbling and thickened, 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add 1 1/2 cups jack cheese and corn and cook, stirring until the cheese is melted. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add sausage. Cook, stirring and breaking the sausage into small pieces with a spoon, until lightly browned and no longer pink.
5. When the rice is done, stir in the sausage and cheese sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup jack sheese on top and dollop cream cheese by the teaspoonful over the casserole. Top with jalapenos.
6. Return the casserole to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: With the warmer weather, we've been eating a lot of light, low-calorie meals, but when the snow hit, I was ready for some good old-fashioned comfort food. This was perfect because while it tastes naughty, it's not as guilt-worthy as it seems. I've added a few notes to the recipe to remember next time"
- eliminate the cream cheese dollops on top. They were delicious, but really just unnecessary calories. Plus, they didn't melt like I expected, just remained firm chunks.
- The overall cook time was much less than expected because I didn't have to bake the rice/vegetables again to reduce the liquid like in the directions - when I took the foil off after the first 45 minutes, my rice was tender and the broth was all absorbed. So, start cooking the milk/cheese sauce and sausage about 15 minutes before timer beeps.
- Cook the sausage first and the milk/cheese sauce second. The sauce with thicken as it cools and it needs to be warm and pourable when you add it to the rice/vegetables.
- If you're feeding meat lovers, double the sausage (use 1 lb)