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| A bountiful harvest of vegetables await in this yummy dish! |
My family doesn't care for casseroles. I admit I'm not a huge fan of them either - but when it comes to this one, I could eat half the pan myself and then finish the second half the next day for lunch! Ok... I may have just done that this week, but don't tell anyone.
I keep this 'basic' recipe idea in my proverbial back pocket and then I use the vegetables I have on hand. This time around the plan was to use up the first zucchini of the season from my own garden! I didn't plant carrots this year and didn't have any fresh, but I had picked up a can of carrots last week with this casserole in the back of my mind.
It's going to remind you of something your Grandmother has made... probably because she has. It's a throw back to the generation of using crackers and cheese to top every casserole known to man and those crackers and that cheese make this so delicious, however, you can leave off the cheese and leave out the crackers if you really, truly want to make this a lower fat option.
Vegetable Casserole (Use; Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Onions, Carrots)
2 - 3 cups squash; either yellow or zucchini or a mixture of both, sliced and cooked just tender
1 medium sweet onion like Vidalia, chopped and added to the squash cooking the last 3 minutes
2 carrots, sliced or grated (if sliced, add to the cooking squash or use a can of sliced carrots if you need to substitute)
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 T butter
1/2 c mayonnaise
1 T sugar or substitute
1 c cheddar cheese, grated
1 - 1 1/2 cups crackers, crumbled such as TownHouse or Ritz
Dash Cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
Put the well drained zucchini or yellow squash and onions into a mixing bowl. Add the carrots, egg, butter, mayonnaise, sugar, half the cheese, half the crackers crumbs and the cayenne and salt and pepper. Mix gently. Put into a buttered casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 for aboout 20-25 minutes until warmed through and golden.
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| The first zucchini of the year from my garden! |
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| You can leave the cheese and crackers off the top if you wish at this point |
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| But I love the flavor so I use the cheese and crackers to top! |
