Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Make It Gluten Free Tuesdays: Quick Broccoli Casserole Recipe


I don't know about you... but what you see above? That's my favorite kinda recipe. That's Michael's Aunt Terri's Quick Broccoli Casserole. It's FAMOUS at our holiday meals and family reunions. I love hand-written recipes shared with friends and family. It's kind of rare now-a-days. A lost art of sorts. I love this recipe because it's very similar to one my great-grandmother used to make as well. She loved Cheez Whiz (which believe it or not IS gluten free!) and cream of chicken soup. I mean really... whose mom DIDN'T love "already-prepared-casserole-super-star", cream of chicken soup?

Admittedly, I enjoy just having recipes like this... reading them... treasuring the love which went into sharing them more than I do actually making these recipes (which use super processed products)... AND I think they are still super fun to share. And for the food nazis (just to be clear)... I am NOT suggesting you go out and fill your pantries with processed franken-food -- I'm just sharing with you how to change those favorite recipes IF you would like to do so! See how easy that is? No need to rant and rave. 

And I can't tell you how often I get an email asking something along the lines of... "So my grandmother used to make this recipe with so-and-so, and so-and-so... how in the WORLD can I re-create that gluten free?" So I thought it would be a fun series on this blog to share hand-written recipes I have from my grandmother, my great-grandma P., and various friends and neighbors and tell you how I would make them gluten free. Sound like a plan?

Would you like to join me? I'd like to make this a weekly link up series. You can share how you would make a recipe healthier, how to make it gluten free, dairy free, egg free, allergen free... etc... I love seeing these old recipes and I love figuring out how to make them new again!

So here's how I would make this recipe gluten free:

Aunt Terri's Quick Broccoli Casserole
revised to be gluten free (with dairy-free options)
printer-friendly version

Ingredients:
1 small onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup green pepper, finely diced
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil for dairy free)
1 recipe gluten free cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup COOKED rice
1 small (8 oz.) jar Cheez Whiz (if you're dairy free, check out this homemade dairy-free cheeze sauce instead)
1 small (5 oz.) can evaporated milk (if you're dairy free, try using full-fat coconut milk)
2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped broccoli

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute onion & green pepper in butter in a hot skillet. Stir in cooked rice, Cheez Whiz, milk, and soup. Stir continuously until cheez whiz is melted. Thaw broccoli and drain any liquid. Add drained broccoli to a greased 2 quart casserole dish. Pour sauce evenly over the broccoli. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes until hot & bubbly. Yields 6 servings.



Now if you'd like a healthier version of gluten free broccoli casserole? 
Here are great options:


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Now it's your turn!
Do you have a favorite family recipe that you re-created to be gluten free? It can be a new post, an old post, a post you've edited! Just link back to my page to be included! That's it!


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