Tag: casserole

In Praise of Casseroles

I often say food is best just as it comes fresh, but today’s post is in praise of casseroles. My block is currently full of surgical patients. Pre-op, post-op, young, old, the demographics are everywhere, but there’s also commonality. Each family needs food and we support each other.

At times, nothing beats a one pot meal that can be frozen and used when needed. Casseroles fill that bill. The possible flavor combinations are numerous, the level of prep variable, and the dietary specifics adaptable. I’m delivering three versions to my neighbor this afternoon.

When you have time, you can begin with fresh vegetables, herbs, meat, poultry, or seafood and homemade sauce or gravy. When you’re rushed, prepared soups, breadcrumbs, or sauces, rotisserie chicken, and frozen vegetables will speed the process. Just make sure the prepared items are compliant with any dietary restrictions.

I like to deliver casseroles in disposable, freezer-safe containers so no one feels obligated to wash and return them. I often break each casserole into meal-sized portions and pre-freeze. This comes in handy with multiple households needing food at the same time because it allows me to combine prep and cooking.

I can’t say that I have a favorite casserole, but some regulars include chicken and rice with broccoli or asparagus; tamale pie with ground turkey, corn, and black beans; tuna with English peas topped with crushed potato chips,

Popular casserole recipes seem to contain lots of cheese and butter. If you’re trying to avoid dairy, overcooked sweet potatoes or potatoes will break down to thicken a sauce that begins as mostly water. Rice will absorb extra water along with the flavors of the spices and staples you choose. Pot likker adds an extra layer of flavor. If you can tolerate aged foods, tofu will add protein and creaminess.

My secret ingredients for added non-dairy flavor include toasted sesame oil, balsamic glaze, turmeric vinegar, mirin, chili garlic sauce, green chiles, and molasses. I also sometimes use the extra barbecue sauce that comes with takeout.

Casseroles aren’t just for delivering down the street, they’re a great place to use left-over vegetables and to extend a meal when unexpected guests arrive. And they’re fast! If you’re throwing one together after work using cooked ingredients, about 20 minutes in the oven is all you need.

So, top it with butter, slather it with shredded cheese, fill it with herbs, stuff it full of beef, chicken, turkey, pork, tuna, or salmon, stir in the vegetables and do something else. It will bake into a luscious mixture that will warm your tummy and hug your neighbors’ hearts.

Who knows, casseroles may even have healing power when they’re made with love and kindness.

Comfort Comes in Different Flavors

Comfort comes in different flavors. One of my neighbors was taken away by ambulance this morning. Once I knew he was stable and in good hands, I immediately thought about rounding up food for his wife. It’s not just that he’s the primary cook or that we often share recipes and dishes, but food is a basic need and I understand how overwhelming it can feel to meet that need when we’re stressed.

Our grandmothers, great aunts, mothers, and cousins understood this too. That’s why there’s a tradition of delivering food to sick friends or those who have lost someone. It’s a simple gesture that meets a need and brings great comfort. But comfort does not have to arrive wrapped in a specific flavor profile. Individual preferences for comfort food vary, but as long as you consider known allergies, intolerances, and dislikes, whatever you offer should be well-received.

Most of us have a favorite go-to. When I was young, my mother made Chicken Spaghetti for such occasions. I took a big gluten-free pot of it to the luncheon before her funeral. She probably wouldn’t have approved of me bringing a dish or the fact that the family didn’t parade into the sanctuary behind the casket. She was a stickler for the rules of tradition and convention. I sometimes find them a bit too confining. Nonetheless, I often wander back to the comforting foods I remember from family gatherings.

My grandmother served canned pears topped with a dollop of mayonnaise and grated American cheese. This was called a Pear-Cheese Salad in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. I haven’t eaten that combination in years, but I can still taste it in my head.

When my exchange sister visited from the Netherlands a few years ago, she wanted Mom to cook Goulash because that’s the comfort food she remembered from the time she lived with my parents and sister. I’m pretty sure that recipe also came from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. It contains cubes of beef chuck roast, onion, flour, salt, paprika, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, garlic, some kind of oil, and a spice bag filled with bay leaf, celery, parsley, and thyme.

My sister and I wildly preferred my grandmother’s beef and noodles to everything else. It was always our favorite and our most frequent request. Last year, I braised some beef and accidentally mimicked the flavor so closely I was shocked. My sister now wants this as her standing birthday meal.

Other common dishes were Green Rice, Swedish Meatballs, Poke Salat, and Hot Spots. Hot Spots go by other names. They’re crunchy crackers made using cheese, flour, crispy rice cereal, butter, salt, and red pepper flakes. My ex-husband loved my grandmother’s so much he adopted the recipe and still takes the crackers to parties as one of his signature dishes.

Your family may prefer Mac-n-Cheese, Lasagna, Clam Chowder, Crab Cakes, Buffalo Chicken Wings, Tamales, Enchiladas, Green Bean Casserole, or Sushi because comfort comes in different flavors.

Five Rainy Day Comfort Foods

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”