Summer Squash Casserole
I don't know what the shizzle it is with Waco and people burning stuff down. Three years after the Branch Davidian debacle, I was in college there and working at one of the only waterfront restaurants in town. They served some of the best food I can remember having and one day I went to work and the building was burned down. Supposedly arson at the hands of the then-owner.
While I was pleased to have a couple of weeks off of work and an "unemployment" check, I was kind of ticked that I wouldn't be able to enjoy some of my favorite meals anymore. <I should probably thank that crazy old man who owned the place for stopping my steady incline of weight gain at 30 pounds>.
One of my favorite things there was this squash casserole that was part of the daily lunch specials. Its very similar to the squash casserole you can get at Black Eyed Pea and maybe Cracker Barrel, but I have a feeling my version is slightly healthier.
Since squash is abundantly in season right now, I wanted to see if I could re-create the version from the old River Front Cafe.
Ingredients:
2 lbs yellow squash or combination of squash & zuchinni
1/2 chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons kosher salt
15 saltine crackers, crushed
a pinch of thyme
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing pan
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
butter cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to Convection Bake setting at 375 degrees. Slice squash {and zuchinni, if using} into 1/2" thick slices. Dice onion.
In a large pot, bring water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add in squash and onion.
Cook until tender, about 10-12 minutes {my squash had a lot of girth, but if yours are smaller, decrease the cooking time}.
Drain squash and onions in a strainer. Using a pastry cutter or potato masher, squish the water out of the vegetables and break them up.
Transfer squash to a large bowl and mix in crushed crackers, egg, thyme, butter, salt and pepper.
Grease a medium sized casserole dish with butter or cooking spray and evenly distribute squash mixture. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top and give it a light spray of butter cooking spray. {Don't have cooking spray? Mix a teaspoon of melted butter with the breadcrumbs before topping the squash}
Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown.
Remove from oven and ALLOW TO COOL before sneaking a bite. You will burn your tongue like never before if you do not heed my warning! Don't ask how I know that.
This looks really tasty and healthy, too. My husband and I love to try new recipes with our new Bosch range. Thanks and please keep posting more healthy recipes!
Is there a Print version of this?
I love this recipe!! It was easy to make. Tastes perfect! No alterations were needed. Thanks Amy!
You have lovely recipes and great gas cooktops with controls in the front of the burners…but you cannot provide canning recipes because the burners are too close together for 3 large pots to fit on them. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to get someone to reconfigure my burners into 4-in-a-row instead of inconvenient front row/back row, but no one will try. They say the biggest problem is getting a top made. I suggest that the 2-row concept of burners is merely traditional but not at all functional for deep cooktop cooking. I would think Bosch would be the company that would think outside the box and produce a cooktop that I can use to can foods – room for 3 big pots going at the same time, not touching each other. The center of burners should be 9 inches from the wall. This provides a greaaaat space in front of the burners for an adequate preparation stage. If I could reach Werner Struth, originally a manufacturing engineer, I would ask him to look into this practical configuration.