Casseroles

What are some of your go to casseroles or pot luck dishes when cooking for family members or friends that are under the weather.

i do a lasagna variant that vanishes fast---no pasta--i use thin sliced and grilled eggplant and layer with five cheeses.a thick long cooked tomato sauce and roasted peppers.

Eggplant dressing.  This is an excellent side dish or a meal in itself.

Brown 1 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb ground pork.  Add trinity (onions/celery/ bellpepper) to taste and saute with meat.  I use a couple of cups of trinity.  While the meat/veg cooks peel and medium dice 2 lbs of eggplant.  Also cook 2 cups of long grain rice and let cool.  Add eggplant to meat mixture and simmer until eggplant is tender.  Season with salt and cayenne pepper.  Taste!  When well seasoned add rice and gently mix in.  Put mixture in a shallow pyrex dish and spread evenly.  Top with bread crumbs mixed with some parmesan cheese. Bake until topping is browned. 

You can also add other vegetables to this.  I've used carrots, potatoes, and even leftover mustard greens.  All worked pretty well.

cy

If under the weather means respiratory problems (cold/flu), I suggest a spicy chicken concoction I call 'Chicken Surprise El Diablo'. Yes, that is supposed to be funny :), but its really, really good. I do this whole thing in the crock-pot.

Take three pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts and cook them on high in the crock pot about 3-4  hours (until the juices run clear)   Pull them out and put them on a plate to cool. Turn the crock pot off. Leave the wonderful juices/stuff in the crock pot. While the 'wonderful juices/stuff' is still hot, add some red pepper flakes and/or some hot pepper sauce to the liquid. The key here is enough red pepper flakes/hot sauce to be just a little notch beyond the eater's spiciness comfort level. You don't want to hurt them, but you do want noses running and maybe even a few drops of sweat on their forehead.

When the chicken is cool, cut it into 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks and put it back in the crockpot with the liquid. Turn the crockpot back on high. Add chopped oniond and minced garlic to taste (a large onion and half a head of garlic is about right for me). Add three cans of cream of chicken soup (cream of mushroom is also really good), a small can of diced black olives, and a jar of your favorite non-sweet salsa. Stir thoroughly. Let this cook on high for an hour or two until it starts to bubble solidly.

When it is bubbling solidly, unplug or turn off the crockpot and add a box of Barilla Plus rotini, or some other whole wheat pasta. The whole wheat pasta holds up much better to the crock pot cooking than the regular stuff, is better for you, and you won't be able to tell the difference anyway with all the other flavors. Stir thouroughly, leave the lid off to let the heat escape, and let sit for 15 minutes.

A little grated cheddar cheese (or Monterey Jack) sprinkled on top and a salad on the side would be great. It's also awesome on its own.

The capsaicin from the peppers and the chicken is what helps with a cold/flu. It also tastes really really good. Try to make it ever so slightly more hot than they would normally enjoy, just over the edge, not too far.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Dave

Tamale Pie Casserole 

5 large XLNT Tamales 
1 pound ground beef (lean) 
1 large onion, diced 
2 cans tomato soup + one can water 
1 can (small) tomato sauce 
2 cans sliced olives 
1 can (small) hominy 
1 small can corn 
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

Slice tamales into ½ inch pieces. Layer half of the slices on the bottom of a 2 – 3 quart casserole. 

Saute the ground beef until done. Drain any fat from the beef. Add onions, 2 cans of tomato soup, the can or water, tomato sauce, olives, corn and hominy. Cook until everything is well combined. 

Pour over the tamales in the casserole, cover with the remaining tamale slice and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. 

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

yummo, to use somebody else's word

Thanks guys those are all great ideas.....I am off to the farmer's market....

cy_dugas


Eggplant dressing.  This is an excellent side dish or a meal in itself.

Brown 1 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb ground pork.  Add trinity (onions/celery/ bellpepper) to taste and saute with meat.  I use a couple of cups of trinity.  While the meat/veg cooks peel and medium dice 2 lbs of eggplant.  Also cook 2 cups of long grain rice and let cool.  Add eggplant to meat mixture and simmer until eggplant is tender.  Season with salt and cayenne pepper.  Taste!  When well seasoned add rice and gently mix in.  Put mixture in a shallow pyrex dish and spread evenly.  Top with bread crumbs mixed with some parmesan cheese. Bake until topping is browned. 

You can also add other vegetables to this.  I've used carrots, potatoes, and even leftover mustard greens.  All worked pretty well.

cy

Cy, that is one of my favorite dishes that my husband makes. He tops it with crushed saltines mixed with a little butter. Is it a La. thing? He's originally from Lake Charles.

dholk


If under the weather means respiratory problems (cold/flu), I suggest a spicy chicken concoction I call 'Chicken Surprise El Diablo'. Yes, that is supposed to be funny :), but its really, really good. I do this whole thing in the crock-pot.

Take three pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts and cook them on high in the crock pot about 3-4  hours (until the juices run clear)   Pull them out and put them on a plate to cool. Turn the crock pot off. Leave the wonderful juices/stuff in the crock pot. While the 'wonderful juices/stuff' is still hot, add some red pepper flakes and/or some hot pepper sauce to the liquid. The key here is enough red pepper flakes/hot sauce to be just a little notch beyond the eater's spiciness comfort level. You don't want to hurt them, but you do want noses running and maybe even a few drops of sweat on their forehead.

When the chicken is cool, cut it into 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks and put it back in the crockpot with the liquid. Turn the crockpot back on high. Add chopped oniond and minced garlic to taste (a large onion and half a head of garlic is about right for me). Add three cans of cream of chicken soup (cream of mushroom is also really good), a small can of diced black olives, and a jar of your favorite non-sweet salsa. Stir thoroughly. Let this cook on high for an hour or two until it starts to bubble solidly.

When it is bubbling solidly, unplug or turn off the crockpot and add a box of Barilla Plus rotini, or some other whole wheat pasta. The whole wheat pasta holds up much better to the crock pot cooking than the regular stuff, is better for you, and you won't be able to tell the difference anyway with all the other flavors. Stir thouroughly, leave the lid off to let the heat escape, and let sit for 15 minutes.

A little grated cheddar cheese (or Monterey Jack) sprinkled on top and a salad on the side would be great. It's also awesome on its own.

The capsaicin from the peppers and the chicken is what helps with a cold/flu. It also tastes really really good. Try to make it ever so slightly more hot than they would normally enjoy, just over the edge, not too far.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Dave

 
This sounds unbelievably easy and very good.  I intend to try this concoction this week sometime.  Maybe today.  Will report back.

Maybe it is a Louisiana thing.  I've never heard of it outside of south LA, but I may be wrong.
 
Eggplant dressing is a close cousin of basic rice dressing or dirty rice.  You also see this quite a bit in Cajun country.
 
cy

I think it would depend on the person(s) you are cooking for.  I used to belong to a book club/pot luck dinner group which consisted of 9 women. 

Mostly they went for dishes made with chicken, vegetables, and a variety of salads.  Some of the dishes I made that went over well were quiche lorraine, spinach lasagna, and carrot souffle.  One lady in the group made a chicken soup with vegetables, and would bake a package of drumsticks with a bbq sauce that was well received. 

I just remembered mirliton (chayote/veg. pear) dressing casserole.  Same recipe I posted above, but with mirlitons instead of eggplant.  Maw would always use some file' powder (just a touch) when seasoning.

cy

Well, the Diablo is done.  I declare it a success.  I cut mostly everything by half, thought 3 lb was quite a load.  It's good.