Broccoli, Squash, Carrot Cheese Rice

As I have bought lots of broccoli from Sprouts last week, and now I am trying to use all of it before it gets bad. Mostly I use Broccoli in Omelets and love that combination. As my kiddos have eaten lot egg things in their breakfast this week, I want to put my broccoli to a different use. Then i remembered reading lot of recipes about Broccoli Rice casserole. As I have some left over rice also, that sounded perfect. But I wanted to make it more colorful by adding some more vegetables. so here comes my twist for to the routine casserole recipe, Broccoli, Squash, Carrot Cheese Rice. I have cooked this on the stove (didn't use oven for this, usually casseroles are cooked in oven) and hence this is not a casserole.

Ingredients:
Cooked White Rice - 1 Cup
Broccoli - 1/2 cup
Yellow Squash  - 1 medium
Carrot - 1 medium
Garlic - 2 cloves
Oil - 1tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cheese - 1/3 cup ( Taco Blend or American or Cheddar)
Cilantro or Chives - ( for Garnish or Optional)

Hmmm! Look at the blend of these beautiful colors

Preparation:

1. Take a nonstick pan on the stove and add oil to it.
2. Once the Oil is hot add the minced garlic.
3. Then add the finely chopped broccoli. (Based on your kiddos age chop into right size, if they are too small mince them, or leave them small pieces, so that they will know the texture of vegetables)
4. Chop the Yellow Squash into small pieces
5. Peel the carrot and cut into small pieces
6. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook for 2 min on low.
7. Then add the salt and pepper and close the lid and cook for 2 min
8. Add the Rice to the pan and mix everything well.
9. Top with the cheese and once the cheese starts melting ( after 1 min), turn off the heat and mix everything well.
10. Transfer them to serving bowl or plate, let your little one say Yum! Yum!

My son said, 'Amma! it looks like a Cake' :-)

It never goes waste the little effort we put into nice presentations. The little ones always want some thing new, so try your same old dishes with nice presentations. You will see the change, how fast they will eat. :-)

Another presentation represents a Chinese Hut

and Here is my little ones Happy Plate. (when they finish all, it's called Happy Plate ;-) )

Nutritional Info:
You are serving 1 serving of vegetables, carbohydrates and dairy with this recipe.

Hint:

• Garlic gives a very nice aroma to this rice
• If your kiddos don't mind the spiciness then you can add 1/4 tsp of curry powder also for more flavor.
• I always use Taco Blend Cheese or Four Cheese Mix which has orange, yellow and golden colors and also little spicy. You can use American Yellow Cheese or Cheddar Cheese.