Yum Stuff: Tuna Rice Bake Comfort Dinner

Eating Tuna Rice Bake is like being hugged by your dinner. It's good for when you're feeling a bit sad or a bit sick and need a warm full belly to feel better.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, and enough for greasing the dish, or grease it with PAM.
• Big tin of tuna in water, drained
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Couple of minced garlic cloves
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed, drained and chopped, or peas and carrots and corn
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar, plus extra for top. Parmesan is also good.
• 4 cups cooked brown or wild rice
• 2 stalks of celery, cut small
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped basil leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper. Lemon pepper is nice.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a large casserole dish.

In a large pan over medium-high heat, saute onions with 2 tablespoons of butter and cayenne until translucent, add the garlic and the celery towards the end, just enough to soften them a little. Add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.

Add the tuna, cheese, rice, parsley, thyme, basil and spinach mixture and combine well. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour into prepared casserole dish and top with extra shredded cheese. Bake for 45 minutes until the cheese on top is nicely browned and it's bubbling hot.

*Some people might like to add paprika to this at some stage, I think that's gross. Each to their own and all that.