Broccoli and Cheeze Rice Casserole

One of my favorite foods when I was vegetarian was those packaged "broccoli and cheese" rice side dishes. Except it was my main meal and I ate the whole package.... haha. Anyways, today I decided to attempt a vegan version of this dish. I used the sauce in this recipe I LOVE from Kid Tested Firefighter Approved... well a version of the sauce anyways. .. with just a few tweaks to fit this recipe. I love that sauce so much I could drink it! Lol! Anyways, dinner is in the oven so I had better make this snappy!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook approx 2.5 cups of rice. I used 4.5 cups of cooked rice in the recipe.

You will need:

4.5 cups cooked rice (I used brown sprouted rice)
4 cups broccoli florets

1/4 cup cashews (soaked for a couple hours if you don't have a vitamix or similar)
2/3 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 roasted red pepper
2 tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients except broccoli and rice in a vitamix or blender and puree until smooth.
Place rice and broccoli in a casserole dish and pour sauce mix over top and mix together with a spoon.
Cover and bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until broccoli is tender.