Healthy Habits

By Theresa Albert, www.myfriendinfood.com

Call it a casserole and its relegated to the 50s but call it a “strata” or a “bake” or a “pie” and suddenly its new again. Everyone has one of their mom’s recipes in their head, whether they hated it or loved it. Casseroles rock because they can be assembled and baked unmonitored. The traditional formula is simple: ingredients in a glass dish heated in the oven. The outcome is especially good for sharing at parties or for making on the weekend and enjoying all week. What could use a little healthy push is the choice of items that go into the dish.  Your mom used cans of soup, high carb pasta and maybe some corn flakes on top but we can do better. Switch it up with these healthier, more updated substitutions to any casserole recipe:

Instead of                                                                     Use

Ground beef                                                                Canned lentils or cooked chicken

Ground lamb with fat                                                   Cook and rinse all meat before adding

Heavy cream sauce                                                     Low fat evaporated milk

Pasta                                                                           Spaghetti Squash/Quinoa/Brown Rice

Grated cheese                                                            White sauce made with milk or yogurt

Canned soup                                                               Baby food pureed vegetables

Corn Flake Topping                                                     Whole wheat bread crumbs

Crispy Onions                                                             Crushed whole wheat crackers

Pastry or Puff pastry                                                    Phyllo layers

Every casserole has the same formula: Body of protein, heart of creamy and moist and topping of crisp. With a little imagination, you can update old favorites without making a dent in the flavour.  Mix and match as you please and serve with a great big salad and everyone is happy.