French Toast Casserole

 We love French Toast - Andy makes the best French Toast, and his secret ingredient is Semifreddis Cinnamon Swirl bread (Semifreddis is a Bay Area bakery, but TJ's carries it in some locations). I never though anything could top Andy's French Toast, until my Mom found this amazing recipe for French Toast casserole. She made it for mother's day brunch, and it was sooo delicious. I have since made it myself, and it is ridiculously easy to make. I did it half asleep the night before at 10pm. It took all of 5 minutes. The casserole soaks overnight, resulting in delicious a french toast / bread pudding hybrid. Yum.

What's in it
1 loaf Semifreddis Cinnamon Swirl Bread
6 eggs
3 C milk (or almond milk)
cinnamon

How it's made
Spray a 9x11" baking pan. Cut loaf of bread into 1" cubes and put in pan. Whisk eggs, milk and cinnamon in a bowl, and pour over bread. I smushed everything down with a spatula after, to fill in the gaps. Cover and put in fridge to soak overnight. The next morning bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with warm syrup, fruit and powdered sugar.

Taco Pie

I'm in love with casseroles right now, and all comfort food in general (see my recent Chili Mac post). I clipped this recipe from Bon Appetit, from their weeknight cooking section. My favorite casserole in the world is Hamburger Pie, my Mom has made it for me for as long as I remember, and this Taco Pie recipe is a 'Mexican' nod to Hamburger Pie. The recipe is so flexible, you can substitute ingredients to what you have on hand, or what you feel like eating. Plus it is super easy to make, and so very delicious. I was sad when I ate the last plate of leftovers today. Try it, you'll love it.

What's in it*
3 Tbl vegetable oil
10 corn tortillas, halved
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

1 - 2 Tbl taco seasoning, or cayenne and chili powder, etc

3/4 to 1 pound ground turkey or pork

14.5oz can chopped tomatoes

2 4oz cans chopped fire roasted green chile

1 C frozen or canned corn

1 2oz can sliced olives

1 - 2 C grated cheese (mozzarella, jack and cheddar)

How it's made

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in large skillet (preferably cast-iron), and cook tortillas on each side until golden (work in batches).

Meanwhile, in a separate cast iron skillet, heat oil and saute onions until soft, a few minutes. Stir in garlic and spices. Add ground meat and a pinch of salt, and cook until meat is browned, about 5 minutes. Break up meat as you go. Drain off fat. Stir in tomatoes, chile, corn and olives. Bring to a simmer and cook until water is mostly evaporated (it helps to drain the can tomatoes if very watery).

In a casserole or pie dish (I used two dishes since I had so much filling), layer - half of tortillas, meat/veggie filling, cheese - repeat once more. Bake until cheese melts, about 10 minutes.

*feel free to experiment with ingredients and seasoning. Especially if you like spicy, add a few dashes of tapatio, or add chopped bell peppers, black beans.

Amber's Lasagna

It amazes me we do not yet have a recipe for lasagna on RFL yet! I've been making it often recently, and I think I am moving towards perfecting a recipe. That's the trouble with lasagna, is that there is so many different ways to make it, that it is hard to put it all down in one recipe. Here is a method I have cobbled together from a few different recipes, and it seems to be consistently yummy. The real secret to delicious lasagna is the sauce, so that is what you will be spending most of your time making in this recipe.

What's in it
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
1 bunch chopped fresh basil (divided)
oregano and other preferred italian spices
1 onion, chopped
several cloves garlic, minced (divided)
1 can marinara sauce (28 oz) or a couple jars of your favorite pasta sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pound uncooked italian sausage, removed from casing and chopped (can choose sweet, hot or cheesy herb, etc)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
lots of fresh spinach (at least one bag, if you are buying bagged, and don't forget to wash!)
2 blocks grated havarti cheese (or a mixture of havarti and mozzarella)
1 cup fresh grated parmesean cheese
optional: 1-2 cups cottage cheese

How it's made
Start by making the sauce. In a dutch oven or stock pot, heat olive oil and saute the onion, garlic (reserve some garlic for later) and sausage, until sausage is browned and onions are translucent, season with salt. Then add half the chopped basil and other italian seasonings you have on hand (oregano, thyme, chili flakes, etc). Saute until basil is wilted. Add sauce and tomatoes and bring to simmer. Simmer on low for at least a half hour, to blend the flavors.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients: Combine shredded cheeses in a bowl. Saute garlic in olive oil in a skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until water is evaporated from them, and they are mostly cooked (do not over cook). Add spinach and saute until spinach is wilted.

Once all ingredients are prepared, set up assembly line of noodles, sauce, mushroom/spinach, cheese, chopped basil. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees, and pull out your large lasagna casserole dish. Spread small amount of sauce on bottom of pan, then layer noodles, sauce, mushroom/spinach, cheese and basil. You will be able to make three layers, but be sure to reserve sauce and cheese for very top (4th layer). It helps to apply even pressure to noodles once you lay them down, to compress all ingredients together, just try not to crack the noodles. Your top layer should just be sauce, and have some cheese set aside to sprinkle on top, later. Cover pan with foil (tight) and bake for at least a half hour, until bubbly. Remove foil, sprinkle cheese on top, and bake for another 10 minutes or so until cheese is melted and browned a bit. Remove from oven and let sand at least 20 minutes before serving.

The beauty of lasagna is you can add or subtract ingredients as you desire. You can add bell peppers or other veggies into the mushroom/spinach mixture. Or change up the cheese options. You can layer in sliced hard boiled eggs, as well. For a little more heat, use hot italian sausage and add more chili flakes to sauce. If you don't want to use sausage you can use ground beef. You can also make a huge batch of sauce and use more later for pasta or stuffed shells. Or freeze for next time.

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

This is our Dad's special casserole that we grew up with.  Great way to get kids to eat their greens!

2 cans condensed mushroom or chicken condensed soup (one of each is also a good option)
1 Tbs. cumin
very generous amount of cheddar cheese, shredded (the more the better)
2 small heads of brocoli (and stem), chopped
2 chicken breasts cooked or boiled and chopped into bite size pieces
soda crackers

Preheat oven to 375' F
In a large bowl mix soup cans with cumin, cheddar cheese, and chicken.

Spray caserolle dish with cooking spray and layer brocoli with chicken mix. Add any extra cheese on top then put crushed soda crackers on top to keep cheese from burning.

Cook for 45 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe! I thought it was on here, but alas, I was very much mistaken. For too long I depended on the back of the can of TJ's fried onion pieces, then they changed the recipe to incorporate a new TJ product, and I was SOL. So here I am, finally getting my act together to post one of my favorite, go-to recipes. Each time I make it gets better and better. I recently figured out adding cheese takes this green bean casserole to the next level - imagine melty cheese with crispy fried onion. It may invoke a memory, such as eating cheeseburgers and onion rings with a root beer at the Madison Bear Garden in Chico.

Growing up I had an aversion to almost all casseroles, so I totally feel ya if you're not buying the 'casseroles are yummy' story. But recently I realized if you just cut out the cans of weird soup concentrates or Hamburger Helper, and make it how you like it, casseroles can be life changing. I would like to try a tuna casserole soon, something I have scary memories of growing up. So go out on a limb, try this recipe, and love it.

What's in it

½ C butter or olive oil, more for pan

1 large onion, chopped

1 or 2 lbs mushrooms, stemmed and quartered

4 t coarse salt

1 t pepper

24 oz bag TJ’s frozen French green beans

½ C flour

2 c milk or almond breeze

1 C shredded cheese (I prefer cheddar)

1 can of TJ’s Gourmet Fried Onion pieces

How it's made

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In your largest skillet over medium heat, melt a pat of butter. Add onion and sauté until it softens and caremelizes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened. Season with 2 t salt and ½ t pepper and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a pot with 1-2” of water on the bottom to boil, and place a steamer basket inside. When boiling, add frozen green beans, and steam until cooked, about 7-9 minutes.

Melt ½ C butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add flour, whisking constantly until mixture begins to turn golden, about two minutes. Pour in milk and continue whisking until mixture has thickened, about three minutes. Stir in remaining salt and pepper. Remove from heat and pour over beans and toss to combine with onion/mushroom mixture.

Butter a 9x13 pan and add spread out casserole mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake casserole, covered, until mixture is bubbly and heated through – 10 minutes. Uncover and cook 2 minutes more. Sprinkle Trader Joe’s onion pieces over top and cook for 1-2 minutes more, but keep a close eye because they brown rapidly. Allow to cool then serve.

Chilaquile Casserole

Alexis officially gets credit for exposing me to chilaquiles from her post here on RFL, but the first time I actually ate them was at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville (across from PIXAR). They are delicious and I crave them all the time. So I was pretty ecstatic when I found a recipe for a casserole version in one of Mollie Katzen's books - Still Life With Menu. It's super simple and easy to improvise on. Don't be afraid of the casserole, either. I've nostalgically come to love them in the last year, even though I hated them as a kid. So throw on an apron and whip this tasty dinner/breakfast/lunch/midnight snack up!

What's in it

12 corn tortillas

2 4oz cans chopped green chiles

3 C grated jack cheese

salt and pepper

4 eggs

2 C buttermilk

Optional additions

1-2 C pinto beans

1-2 C corn

1/2 lb firm tofu, cut in thin slices

1 C chopped and sauted onion

1 small zucchini cubed and sauted

How it's made

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9x13-inch pan.

Tear 6 tortillas into bite sized pieces and layer on the bottom of the pan. Distribute half the chiles and half the cheese on top (and any additional ingredients).

Tear the rest of the tortillas and sprinkle on top, then follow with the remaining cheese and chiles, etc.

Beat the eggs and buttermilk with the salt and pepper and pour on top of the casserole.

Bake for 35 minutes uncovered. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Enchanted Broccoli Forest

This one comes from the cookbook by Mollie Katzen named for this recipe. Leann and I made it for dinner last week, and it was delicious! Of course, I love broccoli, so it is perfect in my mind. I'm always wary of casseroles, but this one has a fun twist.

What's in it

1 1lb bunch broccoli

1 Tbl butter or oil

1 C chopped onion

salt to taste

1 clove minced garlic

2 Tbl lemon juice

6 C cooked brown rice

pepper and cayenne to taste

2 tsp dill

3 tsp mint

1/4 C fresh parsley, minced

1-2 C packed shredded cheese

How it's made

Time the bottoms off the broccoli, and cut stalks into spears, however you like. Cook them in a steamer until bright green and just tender. Rinse with cold water.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Melt the butter/oil in a skillet. Add onion and salt and saute until onion softens. Add garlic and lemon juice, and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in the rice, seasonings, and cheese. Spread this mixture in the baking pan.

Arrange the broccoli spears upright in the pan like a forest of broccoli. Drizzle with melted butter (mixed with lemon juice if you'd like). Cover with foil and bake until heated through (20 minutes). Serve right away.

Eggplant Casserole

This dish was not very photogenic. Since it wasn't much to look at, I didn't take any pictures of it when it came out of the oven. After eating it, though, I wished I would have taken some anyway. It was really good (right out of the oven as well as reheated as leftovers) and I think people always like to see what the finished product looks like, even if it's not fancy food porn all the time. Some foods are not really that good looking, but we all know that has nothing to do with how they taste.

Now, that being said, this wasn't a groundbreaking dish, it was just a simple weeknight dinner that was satisfying and healthy. (Disclosure: I am desperately in love with eggplant, so I may have liked this more than the average person.) This recipe is loosely based on one from Meals in Minutes.

Eggplant Casserole
~Print Recipe~

• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 package sliced mushrooms
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 3 cups marinara sauce (we used low-sodium, but I think a garlicky sauce would be good)
• Grated mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with nonstick spray. Lay the eggplant in a single layer and spray with nonstick spray. Broil until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip eggplant slices over, spray with nonstick spray and broil until the other side has browned, about 4 minutes more.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and mushrooms are browned. 
3. Spread 1 cup sauce evenly on the bottom of an 11x14 inch baking dish. Add half of the onion and mushroom mixture evenly over sauce. Sprinkle lightly with cheese. Add eggplant rounds, overlapping slightly to cover dish entirely. Add another light layer of sauce, then the rest of the onion/mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with more cheese. Add another layer of remaining eggplant, then finish with more sauce and top with another layer of mozzarella. 
4. Bake about 20 minutes or until sauce is heated through and the cheese has browned. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
   

Giada's Baked Mashed Potatoes

This is another winner I caught while enjoying cable at the gym. Giada was making this as a dinner for two, so she only used 3 russet potatoes. I followed her lead on portion size and cut back on the quantities listed below, but I didn't have any mozerella or parmesan, so I just used some asiago I had. I also substituted some 2% milk and a little sour cream for whole milk. It turned out delicious! I mean, mashed potatoes baked with cheese and a crunchy bread crumb topping? What's not to like?!

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

1. Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Use the 1 tablespoon of butter to grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set aside.
   

3. Warm the milk and melt the butter. Stir into potatoes. Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish.
   

4. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

5. Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Hamburger Pie

Get ready for some major white people food. This recipe came from the back of a Bisquick box back in the 80's when I was a kid, and it's one of my favorite dishes ever. I think Bisquick called it Crustless Quiche. Whenever I eat this in the break room, folks swarm. It feeds four, or two for dinner and lunch.

What's in it

1 lb ground beef

1 chopped onion

salt and pepper

1 C shredded cheese

3 eggs

1 1/2 C milk

3/4 C Bisquick or TJ's all purpose baking mix

How it's done

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Saute the onions and beef until cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the grease and add the mixture to a pie pan. Sprinkle with cheese.

In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk and baking mix. Pour over cheese (it will be a bit lumpy).

Bake 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Eat with catsup on top, and green beans on the side.

This dish probably has tons of opportunity for alterations and improvements, but I've never had the guts to try - it seems sacrilegious for me.

The image above is from a newer version I've been baking, with chopped fresh broccoli mixed in. So delicious!