The casserole poll! Love them - hate them?

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down here it is called a covered dish, don’t know if that means covered with foil, or with cornflake crumbs

you can come up with an infinite variety by following the 1 from column A, 1 from column B and so forth rule

Column A, any cooked pasta or rice
Column B, any canned cream soup, including cheese soup or white sauce
Column C, any combo of 2-3 veggies chopped about bite size or a little smaller
Column D, any meat or protein, leftovers are not mandatory but usual, also cut up bitesize, canned tuna or canned chicken, ham, spam or other meat can also fit in here
Column E, any crumb topping
Mix and bake basically

needless to say some combos work out better than others. If your kids won’t eat it, don’t bother
 
I see someone will have to stick up for tuna casserole. It was one of the few dishes my mom made when I was a child for dinner. I like it just fine. It makes me think of mom. ❤️
 
Pug said:
I see someone will have to stick up for tuna casserole. It was one of the few dishes my mom made when I was a child for dinner. I like it just fine. It makes me think of mom. ❤️
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I think of mom too, but just not nicely! 😛
 
Pug said:
Well, you had a scary youth. Tuna in macaroni and cheese is the stuff horror films are made of.

The tunafish casserole that ate Manhattan…
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You understand how traumitized I was! :eek:👍

Love my mom to death but must admit when I think fondly of family meals from my youth - DAD was usually the one doing the cooking. Sorry mom!

Kris
 
PoliSciProf said:
Love 'em! Convenient, easy, healthy and nutritious–what’s not to love?
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See, I love them but I never cook them because I always thought of them as UNhealthy…fattening, lots of cheese, starch, sodium, etc. Do you have healthy recipes for casseroles? If so, I’d love to try 'em!
 
sharmin said:
See, I love them but I never cook them because I always thought of them as UNhealthy…fattening, lots of cheese, starch, sodium, etc. Do you have healthy recipes for casseroles? If so, I’d love to try 'em!
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Oh, I know! How about steamed broccoli florets spritzed with lemon, but done in a 9 by 12 pyrex dish and covered in tinfoil? If you feel the need to have a “topping” use half a T of toasted sesame seeds.

It is healthy, and it will appear like a casserole, sort of. :cool:

Actually, in the spirit of being actually helpful, there are casseroles online from the Cooking Light magazine, so they will weigh in at under 30% calories from fat, usually, and you could pick one without many carbs. I will link you to one so you can see their site. I’d add some cooked chicken breast leftovers to it and maybe a sprinkle of Tabasco.
 
Pug said:
Oh, I know! How about steamed broccoli florets spritzed with lemon, but done in a 9 by 12 pyrex dish and covered in tinfoil? If you feel the need to have a “topping” use half a T of toasted sesame seeds.

It is healthy, and it will appear like a casserole, sort of. :cool:

Actually, in the spirit of being actually helpful, there are casseroles online from the Cooking Light magazine, so they will weigh in at under 30% calories from fat, usually, and you could pick one without many carbs. I will link you to one so you can see their site. I’d add some cooked chicken breast leftovers to it and maybe a sprinkle of Tabasco.
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Oh yum!!
 
Casseroles = comfort food. By definition, not particularly healthly, but Ohhh sooo goood!

My kids favorite:

Simply Good Chicken Casserole

1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
3 chicken breast, cooked and cut up (I kinda shred it)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
8 oz sour cream
2 sleeves butter crackers (I use kebler)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup melted butter

boil chicken with 1 tsp salt and pepper for 30 minutes, or until no longer pink. Cool and shred or cube.

mix together soups and sour cream with 1/4 tsp pepper. Add shredded chicken, stir until well blended.

crumble one sleeve crackers in bottom of casserole dish. Spoon soup mixture on top of crumbled crackers.

Crumble remaining sleeve of crackers over soup mixture. Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake in 350* oven for about 35 minutes, or until crackers are golden brown and center is at desired warmth.
 
I always thought the term “HOTDISH” was a Minnesota thing?? Just like Jell-O + Marshmallows = Salad.
 
This is too funny!! I had no idea there were so many regional differences on what you call the thing in the dish!! LOL

I’ve never heard the term “hot dish” and I’m from Michigan - we call them casseroles.

Loving the recipes too!!! 👍

Here is one we call pasta bake:
Cook fresh fettuccine noodles according to directions (the kind you find in the refrigerated section) (as many as needed to feed your crowd) drain well and put in a baking dish
Dump on top, cans of diced Italian seasoned tomatoes and sort of work it into the noodles - you can add a can of sauce too if you like
Sprinkle dried Italian seasoning over the top
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
Cover with a good layer of mozzarella

Bake uncovered at 350degrees until hot an bubbly and the cheese is brown slightly.
SOOOO fast and easy, and guys love this.

~Liza
 
I voted indifferent because to me they are just another form of dinner. I have no objections to them, some I like, some I don’t, just like any other food. However, a few are among my favorite foods, like the Ham and Scalloped Potato Recipe I got off Recipezaar, Macaroni and Cheese, Lasagna, and White Cheddar Cheese Potatoes with Rosemary. But these are definitely rather fattening, and I won’t substitute for low fat ingeredients in them, so they don’t get made too often, esp. since when I do make them we tend to over indulge, they are so good.🙂
 
baltobetsy said:
OK, that sounds way too good. RECIPE, PLEASE!!

Betsy
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Gladly. Their official name is:
Code: 
               POTATO GRATIN WITH WHITE CHEDDAR CHEESE
21/2 c whipping cream
3/4 c finely chopped shallots
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
4# russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch rounds
2 c (8 oz) packed grated sharp white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 13" x9" glass baking dish. Whisk cream, shallots, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Place 1/2 of the potatoes in baking dish, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with 3/4 c of the cheese.Add 2nd layer of potatoes.Pour cream mixture over potatoes in dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour. Uncover and bake 45 min. more or until golden brown and potatoes are tender.

Enjoy! Hint: if you have a food processor or grater, buy a block of the white cheddar and grate it yourself. Way cheaper and sometimes white cheddar is hard to find already grated.
 
the trouble with tuna casserole is that it never ends, there is still crusted remnants in the dish in the fridge a week later, no matter how many times you re-heat and serve, it is still there. anybody want to join me in promoting a law against canned peas in any casserole, esp tuna?

the whole point of these dishes was to load your family up with calories and fat, stretching a small amount of protein, as a money saver in hard times, so making fat free low carb versions is ludicrous and seldom worth the effort.
 
“Hot Dish” is a Lutheran thing (hence Minnesota).

Here is a typical Lutheran hot dish recipe from the book, Scandinavian Humor and Other Myths, by John Louis Anderson.

Tuna Tango*

-enough tuna

-enough Creamettes “Salad-ette” rings

-some Cream of Mushroom soup
-extra milk, 'til it’s moist enough

Boil macaroni in well-salted water for 45-60 minutes. Stir everything together. Crumble potato chips on top. Bake long enough. Serve in a nice bowl.
  • The Ultimate in Lutheran cuisine!!!
Note how long the mac gets boiled in the above recipe. 😃

Actually, I absolutely love tuna-noodle casserole and I have several delicious recipes. We’ve all heard of chili cookoffs–my dream would be a Tuna Noodle Casserole Cookoff! I would be there with my fork and plate and a gallon of milk to rinse it all down. Mmmmmm!

The problem with casseroles is that they are starchy–loaded with carbs, fats, salt, and depending on what the sauce is, sugar. Also, often the vegetables that are present in casseroles get cooked to the point where there’s not a whole lot of nutrional value left… I always swear that I will only eat a small portion, but casseroles are so yummy that I end up eating two or three hefty servings that probably weigh in at around 500 calories a serving.

Casseroles simply don’t fit into a diet for people like me who are overweight. My husband and I are trying hard to eat more dinners with just a 3 oz piece of meat and a half of plate of steamed veges. We like these things, but they don’t taste as delicious as my wonderful Crunchy Cheese-aroni Casserole–IMO, the most delicious casserole (at about 500 calories for a half-cup serving!).

My understanding of casseroles is that they feed many children (another recipe in the book cited above states this). Unfortunately, at least in my house, my kids hated casseroles. They preferred “neat” food.
 
I wrote in-between because I really like some cassaroles, but not all of them.

My mom was real big on cassaroles. She made the tuna cassarole with the potato chips, she made a southwestern chicken cassarole type thing which wasn’t too bad. Sort of like enchiladas in cassarole form. I would eat them because it was either that or go hungry. But I can’t say I liked them. The only ones I like are a good turkey tetrazzini, or this dish my mom used to make with chicken, rice and a can of cream of mushroom or celery soup.

Homemade macaroni and cheese is technically a cassarole and is delicious! I’m a purist though- no ham or sausage or vegetables or any other weird add-ins. Just the noodles and cheeses, and maybe some bread crumbs on top if you insist.
 
I have posted this link before, but it is [almost; I’ve worked on it a little] my favorite, because really, all it does is give you the proportions; after that, you can work on it, to fit your taste, too:
mycce.org/Monroe/nutrition/Create%20Your%20Own%20Casserole.pdf

This is especially nice for Lent, because there are so many ways you can make it using fish &seafood, cheese, and/or eggs, to create a meatless dish.

And, as I say, I have worked on it for years now, getting together a version that leaves out anything I don’t or can’t eat. (So, while I LOVE tuna casserole, you who hate it, never need to make a tuna casserole ever…even though this is :Dhow **I **make tuna!)
 
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