Leftover Ham Casserole

As usual, I made enough ham on Easter to feed our little family five times over. Normally I make bean soup from the leftovers, but I bought a boneless ham this year and no one sounded excited about soup on the rare sunny day we had yesterday. And while we all really love ham, I knew we'd get sick of it before we ate it all, so I hacked half of it up and made a casserole. I added some sauteed kale, spinach and mushrooms that were languishing in the fridge, and a container of cooked rice from last weeks burrito night. A quick sauce of wine and milk to bind it all together, and some shredded cheese on top and we're done! The recipe I made is below, but this could be made with just about anything. Use whatever vegetables you have around, although I wouldn't use any more than three different kinds. Instead of rice you could use cooked noodles or leftover roasted potatoes. Any cheese topping will work, although the smoked Gouda paired quite well with the ham. 

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped kale

1 cup chopped spinach

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup onion

5 tablespoons butter

1-2 cups chopped leftover ham with rind removed

2-3 cups cooked rice

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups low-fat milk

1 cup white wine

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup shredded smoked Gouda

Directions:

Saute the onions in 2 tablespoons of butter until translucent. Add the chopped kale, spinach and mushrooms and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Mix the cooked vegetables with the chopped ham and rice and put in a lightly greased casserole dish. Make sure the rice is broken up and there are no large clumps.




Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and mix in flour. Add salt and pepper to taste, milk and wine. Stir on medium-high heat until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

Pour finished sauce into casserole dish and mix well. Spread shredded cheese on top and bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Don't waste anything! Compost the veggie scraps and share the ham rind with your favorite four legged friends.