Corny Casserole

While looking for a recipe using corn kernels, I thought of Amy Dacyczyn’s (author of The Tightwad Gazette) Universal Casserole.

Also, I had one can of tuna left and because I had decided not to buy tuna fish anymore for sustainable seafood reasons, I wanted to use the tuna fish in a dish that would be more than one meal. Amy’s casserole was ideal.

The last time I used  Amy’s recipe I called my casserole a Klingon Casserole because it started out looking very green but it came out fine.

With Amy’s universal recipe, you pick an item from each of the six categories then combine them to make the casserole.

Here’s Amy’s recipe:

1     cup main ingredient

1     cup second ingredient

1-2  cups starchy ingredient

1 1/2  cups binder

1/4  cup goodie

seasoning 

topping

Main ingredient: tuna, cubed chicken, turkey, ham, seafood

Second ingredient: sliced celery, mushrooms, peas, chopped hard-boiled eggs

Starchy ingredient: sliced potatoes, cooked noodles or rice

Binder: cream sauce, sour cream, can of soup

Goodie: pimiento, olives, almonds, water chestnuts

Topping: potato chips, cheese, bread crumbs

Choose one item from each category except topping and mix together. If mixture is dry, add 1/2 cup milk or stock. Transfer to buttered or greased casserole. Add topping.

Bake 350 degrees F for 30-45 minutes.

Here’s my recipe. As usual, I used a few items not on her list.

Corny Casserole

Ingredients:

1 can tuna fish drained

1 cup creamed corn

1 pkg spaghetti, cooked and drained

1 can mushroom soup

3 palmfuls of sliced almonds, crushed manually

Lots of bread crumbs

Process:

First, cook the noodles in a separate pot.

Then in a microwavable casserole dish, add the tuna fish, creamed corn, spaghetti, soup (straight out of the can, don’t add water), almonds, and mix thoroughly. Next, spread bread crumbs over the top of the whole casserole. I spread a thick layer.

Microwave on high for 15 minutes.

My largest casserole dish worked pretty good but I held out a small portion of cooked noodles to make sure I did not overfill the dish.

When I grabbed a can of corn. I did not realize it was a can of creamed corn meant for another recipe, but I went ahead anyway.

The tienda (mom and pop convenience store) near me sells bags of seasoned croutons. I buy alot of them. I use them in my crazy salads. I save the crumbs. These are what I used as topping.

I use an empty parmesan cheese container with the sprinkle or scoop option top to hold the leftover bread crumbs and I store this in the freezer. Surprising, they keep well and you don't need to thaw them out.

I call this one a Monster Casserole because it looked yellow but it came out pretty good, too.

For More Information:
Sustainable Seafood: http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/seafoodguide/