This tasty dish is perfect for using your garden bounty. I love the nutty flavor from long grain brown rice and that I don’t have to precook the rice to use it in this recipe.

Here’s the original recipe from my Mother in Love:
3 lbs fresh zucchini, sliced
1 lb ground beef, browned
1 1/2 cups long grain brown rice
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or homemade equivalent)
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup grated cheddar or colby cheese

I had everything on hand except for cottage cheese. I did a quick search online and found that it would take 15 hours give or take to make cottage cheese from scratch (a future post to be sure.) I stopped to think… What was the purpose of the cottage cheese? A creamy layer, moisture for the rice, salty flavor.

I decided to substitute 1 cup of mozzarella cheese with 1 cup of plain yogurt stirred in. I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the yogurt to help mimic the cottage cheese flavor. It worked beautifully, saved me a trip to the store, and a little $ too.

1. Layer half the zucchini in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish
2. In a bowl, mix ground beef, rice, oregano, salt, garlic, and cream of mushroom soup. Spread over zucchini layer.
3. Top the ground beef layer with the 2 cups of cottage cheese (or some other substitute–grin.)
4. Place the rest of the zucchini slices over the cottage cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 2 hours.
6. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar or colby cheese. Return to oven just until cheese is melted.

Note: I have teasted this recipe with good results in my slow cooker on high for 3-4 hours.

The lesson here is in the substitution.  You don’t have to have all the right ingredients on hand to make a dish work.  Think about the purpose for each ingredient and find something you have on hand that will do something similar.  It doesn’t have to be perfect to be fantastic!