Sunday, April 4, 2010

Evolving Broccoli and Chicken Casserole

This recipe is known in our home as Yunker casserole after the family friends that introduced us to it. It has been a staple in our home for years which is amazing since it is a casserole and my husband does not usually like casseroles or food all mixed together. Since I became a "sneaky mommy" I have been steadily and slowly making changes to this recipe to make it healthier.

First, I replaced the store-bought bread crumbs with whole wheat bread crumbs that I keep on hand. You can read about how I make them here. After doing that for several times, I started replacing the mayonnaise called for in the recipe with white puree, which is pureed cauliflower and zucchini. I started by just replacing 1/4 cup of the one cup of mayo and then gradually progressed until I was able to replace the entire cup of mayo with one cup of white puree.






Most importantly, these subtle changes went completely unnoticed by my picky husband. VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you click to see the recipe, I will post both the original and my modified version.

Enjoy!
Photobucket

3 comments:

  1. I love this recipe. I recently found out that my son is allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts, and until I am finished nursing him I need to stay away from those foods as well. I have been looking for recipes that I can eat (other then salad) :)and this looks like one I can use, minus the chicken soup, but I can alter it a bit. If you have any recipes that you can think of that are yummy milk, egg, and nut free please let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. see...I think I would TOTALLY go for this much better than the MAYO version...THANKS!

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1) Thanks for commenting on my blog!
    2) I love the idea of replacing high-fat creamy dressings with purees!!! On to your compost bin question: You want to have a large enough space to turn over about twice a year (with a shovel) but compact enough that a stinky mess doesn't take over your yard.
    3) You can nail posts and chickenwire to a palette (chicken wire the bottom!) and then you can transfer decomposed materials after turning into your garden (which is the whole point).
    OR you can do what my dad does and just dig a deep hole, put the compost in, cover it with dirt, and then plant over it. This is great at this time of year.
    Or you could do both.
    I'm no expert though, just the massive compost pile turner :)

    ReplyDelete