Breakfast Casserole

We like to make this for Christmas morning.  It serves a lot of people and can be prepared the night before.

Breakfast Casserole

1 stick butter
32 oz. pkg. frozen hash browns
1 dozen eggs
1 c. milk

1 can diced green chilies

1/4 cup diced onion
Salt and pepper

1 tsp. dry mustard (optional)
2 c. shredded cheese
1 lb. breakfast sausage, cooked (can used diced ham, bacon, etc. I use turkey sausage.)

Melt butter in 9x13 inch pan. Spread 3/4 of the hash browns in pan. Sprinkle with sausage, diced onion, and green chilies.  Sprinkle with 2/3 of the cheese.  Slightly beat eggs. Add milk, salt and pepper, and dry mustard; pour over hash browns. Top with remaining hash browns and cheese. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees if everything is thawed. If not, add another 15 minutes or so.  This can also be made the night before.  Cover tightly and refrigerate. 

Corn Pudding

I decided to try a new corn recipe.  Adapted from this recipe.  It's got a lot of "rich" ingredients so I'd probably only make it for special occasions but it was very good!  Optionally you could blend all 4 cups of corn instead of leaving one cup whole for texture.  I guess it depends on what texture you like your corn pudding.

Corn Pudding

4 cups frozen corn kernels (about 19 ounces), thawed--set aside 1 cup
4 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup whole milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Blend all ingredients but 1 one cup of corn in processor or blender until almost smooth. Pour batter into prepared dish. Stir in remaining 1 cup corn.  Bake pudding until brown and center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; serve.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

We love Shepherds Pie around here and it's so easy to make a vegetarian version. Of course you can always add burger. In fact that's how I used to make it most often. But since we've tried to include more vegetarian meals into our diet I've adapted many of my recipes and this is one of them. Everything else is the same except with the meat version I didn't add lentils and only one can of kidney beans. My Shepherd's Pie has a secret ingredient. I use salsa to give it some good kick. This last time I made it I added a new ingredient that is definitely staying on my permanent ingredient list for this. It's a type of mustard that hardly even tastes like mustard. It's called Southwest Spicy Sweet, Hot Mustard and it's the Great Value brand at Wal-Mart. Let me tell ya, it's GOOD! Adds just a little spice to the dish. Run to Wal-Mart and get you a bottle! You can always add more lentils to this, too. When cooking the lentils just use a 1:4 ratio with lentils to water.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

1 cup dry lentils
4 cups water (for cooking lentils)
4 large potatoes, washed and diced (I leave the peels on. Makes it more hardy.)
2 cans green beans, drained
1 cup frozen corn
2 cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes (I like petite diced the best.)
1 cup salsa
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
3 Tbsp. Southwest Spicy Sweet, Hot Mustard
salt and pepper to taste

In small saucepan boil  lentils and water with lid slightly ajar. Simmer for 20 minutes or until soft. In a separate pan boil diced potatoes for 20 minutes.

While the lentils and potatoes are cooking, mix beans, corn, kidney beans, tomatoes, salsa, tomato sauce and mustard in a large baking dish. (I use my dish that is one size bigger than a 9x13.) Add cooked lentils-drain any remaining water first. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mash the boiled potatoes. I throw mine in my Kitchen Aid and I just use a little almond milk or soy milk. I try to leave out the butter since the rest of the dish is so full of flavor you don't really miss it. Salt and pepper the mashed potatoes and spread on top of the bean mixture. I used to sprinkle shredded cheese over the top at this point but now I skip that step. Do whatever makes you happy.

Place in 350 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes. Warning: Let sit for awhile before serving. It will be boiling hot right out of the oven! Enjoy!

Enchilada Bake with Green Sauce

I like to make enchiladas casserole style. You get all of the great flavor of enchiladas without the extra effort of dipping the tortillas in sauce and rolling each one. As with a lot of my recipes, this one has many different variations. In this particular recipe I used green sauce instead of the normal red sauce. It is also a vegetarian version but you could easily add chicken. It's loaded with lots of good stuff-corn, pinto beans, brown rice, and kale! It's a great way to use up leftover brown rice. Very filling and very delicious!

Enchilada Bake with Green Sauce

8 small flour tortillas, torn into quarters
1 can green enchilada sauce
1-2 cups cooked brown rice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
5-6 large leaves of kale, finely chopped (remove center stems as they are more tough)
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained (or you could use black beans)
1 can cream of chicken soup (Or you could make white sauce: 1 T. butter, 2 T. flour, 1 c. milk, 1 chicken bouillon cube if desired)
1/2-1 soup can of water or milk (depending on how much rice and salsa you use and what consistency you like)
1/2-1 cup salsa
1/4 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper

1) In a skillet, sauté onion and kale in olive oil. Add corn and cook until no longer frozen.

2) In a large mixing bowl combine beans, rice, soup, water/milk, salsa, and seasonings. Add the corn and kale mixture.

3) Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Line pan with 4 tortillas that have been torn into 4 pieces each. Put filling on top of this layer. Put remaining 4 quartered tortillas on top. Pour green sauce over the top. Could sprinkle cheese over the top if desired. Cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 min. Uncover and bake 10 additional minutes. Serve with sour cream if desired.