I don't know about you, but I've been cooking a lot at home lately. And since Tex doesn't eat a lot, I'm usually cooking for one. That means cutting down recipes. And that means uncooked veggies, meat and other goodies cramming up my little bitty fridge.
The other day I was staring at the vegetable crisper trying to figure out what to do with a bunch of leftover corn, green beans and carrots, as well as that last quarter pound of ground beef.
Then it hit me- Made Up Casserole! This is an invention of Kathy's that she would do sometimes to clean out the fridge. Basically it uses whatever needs to be cooked, slathered with tomato sauce and spices, covered in a skin of mashed potatoes and baked. Kinda like a weird Shepard's pie.
This one is the basic recipe, but feel free to substitute whatever is in the fridge - broccoli, cauliflower, even brussel sprouts or tofu if that's your thing. And for a little extra tang try some barbecue sauce.
Made Up Casserole
1/4 lb ground beef
1/2 small onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1/4 cup beef broth
2 carrots, sliced and cut into 1 inch lengths
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup or 1 small can (drained) green beans
1 small can of tomato sauce 1 teaspoon of you favorite spice blend (mine is Italian)
2 servings of instant mashed potatoes prepared as directed on box
Cheddar cheese
Caramelize the ground beef, onion and garlic. Sprinkle with the spice blend. Deglaze the pan with the broth (I use powdered broth, no sense creating yet more leftovers!) Add the carrots, corn, beans and tomato sauce.
Spoon the mixture into a casserole dish and cover with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Place the dish on a cookie sheet covered in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The potatoes should be just starting to brown.
That's it! Let me know if you make this and what you used.
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