Casserole recipes wanted!

[123LuckyMom]

Recently I was stuck in bed for weeks with a nasty back injury. My family would have starved had it not been for my church community. People brought us casseroles, and we had food. I was extremely grateful, and I'm loathe to complain, but every single recipe involved pasta, which we try to eat rarely, as the bulk of the dish. When I make something for others, I usually do a whole wheat noodle lasagna with ground turkey and veggies, because I don't have any good, healthy casserole recipes. Do you? I'd love to find recipes that avoid cream of something soup and/or lots of "filler". I'm also allergic to beef, pork, and lamb, so I'm limited to poultry and fish/seafood. I'd love to have a roster of casseroles to share and to freeze for my family for when DD arrives. Any suggestions?

[Jo..]

Watching with interest.

I am of the opinion that casseroles and healthy are an oxymoron.

But I grew up on 70s casseroles. My Mom's favorites were a Bisquick and chicken dish, a ham and peas in cream sauce, and hot dogs and cheez-whiz.

[carolinamama]

I make this Mexican-ish dish, almost casserole, for my family and others who have had babies or need meals all the time. My kids really like it too.

4 chicken breasts
Jar of salsa
Frozen corn
Black beans

Place all the above in the crockpot for 4-6 hrs on high
Shred the chicken and mix all together
Roll mixture into whole wheat tortillas and place on greased pyrex pan
Top with a strip of enchilada or taco sauce and shredded cheddar or mexican mix cheese
Bake until cheese is melted and serve

No cream of .... soup and relatively healthy. Plus it is seriously easy.

Another thing that has gotten great reviews when I've taken it to people is white chicken chili. I can give you that recipe if you want it - let me know. I take that with some cornbread.

[anonomom]

The recipe I was coming to post is similar to Carolina mama's. It's a Mexican lasagna that I saw on 30-minute meals years ago and have made dozens of times since.

1 lb ground chicken breast (easy to do in a food processor if you can't find it in the store)
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 jar salsa
2t cumin
2T chili powder
2 cups shredded cheddar
About 6 fajita-sized flour tortillas (I assume you could use whole wheat)

Brown the chicken in a little olive oil, add in spices then stir in salsa, corn and black beans. Pour half the chicken mixture into a 13x9 pan, cover with tortillas (works best if you cut the tortillas in half). Cover with shredded cheese, another layer of chicken, another layer of tortillas and finish up with cheese. Back at 350 for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

[cono0507]

I make something very similar to the crockpot chicken/beans/corn listed above. I got it from the Dream Dinners Cookbook a few years ago (from the Dream Dinners meal prep franchise place). The cookbook itself isn't great but there were a couple of keepers.

Arroz con Pollo

1 cup uncooked rice
1 15-oz can black beans, drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels
6 boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup salsa
1 cup jarred marinara sauce
1/2 cup red bell pepper sliced
1/2 cup scallions chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped (or dried equivalent)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup shredded cheese

in a big bowl combine:
chicken broth, salsa, marinara, bell peppers, scallions, cilantro, cumin, garlic. mix thoroughly.


cook the rice
in a 9x13 baking dish, layer:
cooked rice
beans
corn
chicken
sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper
pour the mixture from above over the chicken evenly.
sprinkle cheese on top

bake at 350 for 45-60 min.

these can be prepared ahead and frozen, then thawed and cooked as above. the cookbook has all of their recipes listed to be able to freeze or cook that night. I often will prepare two at one time - one to eat tonight and one to freeze.

[niccig]

I recently got a slow cooker and was struggling to find recipes I like that didn't have cream of this soup in them either. Someone here recommended this cook book from America's Test Kitchen http://www.amazon.com/Cooker-Revolut.../dp/1933615699

I've made 3 things in the last week and we've like all of them. I did a lentil stew, a black bean chili and a whole chicken. They have stew, curries, roasts, braised meat, casseroles, chilis etc. They've worked out how to get the best tasting meal with the slow cooker conditions - many recipes call for you to brown aromatics in a skillet for 8-10 mins first. I don't think they're cheap recipes, some call for 2 x2lb chuck roast and around here a 2lb roast is $8, so that's $16 in meat, but I think I can get 2-3 meals out of each recipe, and it's good. Better than before when I would make something and we hated it, and tossed the leftovers.

Nicci

[Pepper]

How do you feel about rice? Fried rice freezes very well (I use brown rice), you can add lots of veggies like shredded cabbage, carrots, peas, radish, zucchini...I've even used peeled and diced broccoli stems. You can add scrambled egg to it before you freeze it, or make it fresh the day you serve it. For protein use ground turkey, chicken, or diced tofu.

Stews made with chicken thighs/legs freeze well too. I prefer dark meat for stews because there's not risk of me overcooking it (ha ha) and the texture seems to hold up better to freezing than chicken breasts. There's a Jaqcues Pepin recipe called chicken legs with wine and yams that has sweet potatoes in it, it's totally yummy...if you'd like I'll see if it's on the web.

Do you like Indian food? lots of easy-freezeable things there. Dal and other dried-bean-lentil combos; most of the curries made with chicken; veggie purees like saag (spinach). When I make Indain food I make a big batch of everything then freeze the side dishes in single-meal containers- the next time we want Indian, I only have to make a main dish, the sides are ready to go.

HTH

[MamaMolly]

The Moosewood Cookbook has several casseroles in it and they are all vegetarian. And yummy! Here is one I made this week, and it was scrumptious

Arabian Squash Casserole
4 cups cooked squash or pumpkin, mashed or pureed
1 TB olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tsp salt
2 small bell peppers (one green one red if possible) minced
4-5 medium cloves of garlic, minced
ground black pepper and cayenne to taste (I used a good dose of cayenne)
1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used fat free)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (I probably used about 1/2 cup)
Optional: sunflower seeds and/or minced walnuts for the top

Heat oven to 375

1) put the cooked mashed/pureed pumpkin in a large bowl with the yogurt and feta
2) heat the olive oil in a skillet, add onion and saute over med. heat for about 5 minutes. Add salt and minced bell peppers and saute for about 5 more minutes until the peppers start to get soft.
3) Add the garlic, pepper and cayenne, cook for a few minutes but don't let the garlic get dark
4) Add the sauteed veggies to the bowl of pumpkin and mix well. Spread into an ungreased 9 inch square baking pan (hee-hee! I used round!!)
5) sprinkle the top with the seeds and/or walnuts
6) bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes

[DrSally]

I like pioneer womana's cowboy spaghetti.

[123LuckyMom]

Oooooooh, these are great suggestions! Keep them coming! I had totally forgotten about Moosewood, and I LOVE Indian! If you're willing to share recipes, Pepper, I'd be grateful! I'm going to try all of these out (except for crockpot ones, because I don't have a crockpot! Shocking, I know!). I'd love even more ideas if they're out there!