Cheesey Baked Grains with Caramelized Shallots

I've been meaning to post this recipe for the past few days, but I've been busy with other things, you know, life and such.  It's funny how a few small things can happen and throw things completely out of whack.  Not that things are completely out of whack around here, but It's as though I've had a lot to take care of lately. 

Instead of boring you with the details, I'll share a recipe filled with cheesey goodness.  This recipe is sort of an amalgam of baked macaroni and cheese and a lovely recipe I found on the yellow house blog.  I guess I went through a bit of an obsession with cheesey baked things for a bit because I made this a couple of times, as well as homemade macaroni and cheese in the span of about 2 weeks.  Oh well.  I like cheese.  So, if you are fond of cheese, make this and tell me how you like it!

Cheesey Baked Grains with Caramelized Shallots & Thyme
This recipe has several steps in order to make all of the components, but none of them are hard.  To save time, you can cook your grains a couple of days ahead of time and store them in the fridge.  Also, feel free to toss in any greens you want.  In this version, I used a bit of arugula I had left over, but you can omit the greens altogether.

2 cups cooked grains (rice, quinoa, millet, etc.)
2 large shallots, sliced
about 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp spelt flour (or brown rice flour if making gluten free)
1 cup rice milk (or any other kind of milk)
1 1/2 cups grated medium or sharp cheddar cheese (I like the Tillamook brand)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Caramelize the shallots --> Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat.  Add the shallots and a sprinkle of salt and cook, stirring occasionally for about 8-10 minutes until they are brown and caramelized.  Stir in the thyme and then remove from the heat and set aside. 

Make the cheese sauce --> Heat the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat until melted, then whisk in the flour.  Keep whisking and cooking the flour and butter for about 1 to 2 minutes, then whisk in the rice milk.  Continue to whisk until everything is smooth and the sauce begins to thicken.  Season it with a bit of salt and pepper.  Add 1 1/4 cups of the grated cheese and whisk the sauce until the cheese is melted and the sauce it smooth.  Turn off the heat.

Mix together the yogurt topping --> Pre-heat your oven to 375F and lightly oil a medium sized baking dish (I used one of my pie plates).  In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, 1 of the eggs, and the rest of the grated cheese until combined.  Season with a bit of salt and set aside. 

Put everything together --> In a large bowl, toss together the cooked grains, the remaining egg, the cheese sauce, and the caramelized shallots/thyme mixture.  At this point you can add 2 cups of raw baby spinach or arugula if you want.  Spread this mixture out evenly into your prepared baking dish.  Next, spread the yogurt mixture over the top of the grains, making sure to cover the entire surface evenly.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the topping is set.  If you want the topping to brown a bit, you can place the dish under your broiler for an additional 2 minutes or so.  This will serve 4-6 people.  Enjoy! 

**Serving suggestion: I ate a wedge of this paired with a nice leafy green salad to balance it out.