Cheesy Broccoli Rice Cups for Dinner (or Lunch)

I love when you can throw a concoction of things together to come up with something easy, simple, and super yummy. I make rice with broccoli and cheese often, but was trying to come up with a way to make it a little more fun (and lunchbox friendly). I've seen everything under the sun made in muffin tins as of late, so I figured, why not this? It turns out that these work great as muffin tin ingredients, too! I packed up leftovers for hubby's lunch, and he ate them cold. At home, I warmed ours back up, and it worked like a charm. Yum!

Cheesy Broccoli Rice Cups
Ingredients - 1 1/2 c instant rice or rice of your choice (uncooked), 1 1/2 c vegetable broth, 1-12 oz bag frozen chopped broccoli (thawed and drained), 1 1/3 c shredded sharp cheddar, 1/3 c bottled Ranch dressing, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cook your rice according to package directions, using the broth rather than water, and let cool slightly. I used instant because it was quick and easy, but use whatever rice you like. Mix the rice with all the other ingredients, reserving 1/3 c of the cheddar, until blended. Scoop the rice mixture into 12 lightly greased muffin tin cups. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar on top of each one. Bake for 25-30 minutes until heated through and cheese is nice and browned. Use a spatula to gently loosen and lift each one out of the cups, and enjoy hot as a main with salad, a side dish, or let cool and pack it up for lunch! I'm sure you could substitute any veggie (as long as it wasn't too watery) and/or different cheese, probably even use quinoa rather than rice, and still have these turn out great. I would love to try a cauliflower and a smoked cheese variation next.

Vanilla Greek yogurt with Trader Joe's dried blueberries, celery, grape tomatoes, cucumber, mandarin orange, leftover cheesy broccoli rice cups, and ranch dressing.

In this lunch...