Week 3 : Tuna Casserole Comfort

It’s only week 2 and I’ve already run into a scheduling challenge. I’m actually writing this post on Wednesday and scheduling it for Saturday. As this post goes live, I’ll be in D.C. for the women’s post-inauguration March on Washington.

It’s fitting because my mother would be proud to know I’m hitting the pavement in solidarity against hatred, discrimination, the disrespect of women, and so many offenses that will come with a Trump administration.

Wait…rewind…I’m going to put my bruised and battered optimist hat on and say….
I’m marching FOR equal rights for all, upholding the constitution, treating women with respect, affordable healthcare, opening our doors and hearts to refugees and immigrants, humility, truth and most of all love!

My mom was a feisty woman who believed in equality, peace, love and treating others with respect.

In fact, she worked with the ACLU for several years on their title nine initiatives.
So Mom, I march for YOU and my four sisters. Thank you for raising us to speak our minds, have compassion, and protect those that need protecting!!!!!!

SUE’S SIMPLE TUNA CASSEROLE

The last few weeks have been quite emotional for me as we say goodbye to The Obamas.
I can’t remember ever feeling this sad witnessing a President and First Lady leave the White House.
This is why I selected my mom’s Tuna Casserole. A traditional comfort food from my childhood and likely yours as well.

My mother was a single mom who was often in school full-time, or working…or both, and casseroles were really one of the easiest ways for her to prepare dinner. They were always warm, creamy and comforting. Unfortunately, the creamy goodness often came from unhealthy ingredients.

While I would not call my version of this tuna casserole super “healthy”, my goal was to add nutrition and minimize processed ingredients. For example, I substituted breadcrumb topping with nutrient-rich hemp seed and nutritional yeast topping.

THE PROCESS
With the original recipe in hand ….I marched to the health food store, where I might add, I get a discount because my son works there 🙂

First, what to do with the pasta?
I usually eat wheat-free and with very few grains, but for this recipe, I felt rice noodles would not hold up
and may likely become a soggy mush.

I was surprised to realize the caloric content and carbohydrates of all the pastas were about the same.
The lentil pasta, which claims more protein, was surprisingly, not that big of an improvement and could really taste wonky in the recipe. I landed on the decision to use an organic wheat pasta. The extra dietary fiber would lessen the net carbs, and it actually had quite a bit of protein. It would also maintain the integrity of the recipe and its “comfort” factor.

The soup aisle… Yes, there is a healthier alternative to my mom’s Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, but it was still pretty processed. I decided to make my own cream of mushroom soup using an organic broth and fresh ingredients.

Now for the fish… I know it would be much better to buy sustainable fresh tuna, but that is simply not in my budget for this meal. Seeing as I would just be overcooking and chopping it up, I went with canned tuna…mercury and all.

Once my basket was full of goodies, I went home to cook and serve it up to Alex and Rick as my brave testers.

WHOLESOME TUNA CASSEROLE RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 pound of whole wheat noodles
2 C chopped mushrooms
1 small onion diced or chopped
1 stalk of celery chopped
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
1 C organic milk or half-and-half
1 C mushroom broth
2-3 T whole wheat flour
1 can of tuna
salt and pepper to taste

Topping
1 T of butter or coconut oil
3 T hemp seed and nutritional yeast amounts are optional
Directions:
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package, but reduce the cooking time so the noodles are al dente (slightly chewy and firm)

Sauté chopped mushrooms, onion, celery and parsley in olive oil, or your oil of choice (butter is fine) on medium, until the onions are clear.

Reduce heat and add 2 to 3 Tablespoons of whole wheat flour and stir until thick.

Slowly add 1 cup of broth while continuing to stir or whisk. This causes the mixture to get super thick at first, but keep adding the liquid and eventually, it will get creamy.

Add 1 cup of organic milk or cream and salt and pepper and oregano to taste.
If you want your casserole to be a little more on the creamy, you can add more broth and milk.

Add 1 cup of frozen peas and one or two cans of tuna fish.

Combine the noodles with the “tuna soup”

Topping:
Toast hemp seeds in a dry pan until lightly browned and mix with nutritional yeast (optional)

Transfer the casserole into a baking pan and top with the hemp and nutritional yeast.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes

The Results:
I thought it tasted pretty good as far as tuna casserole goes and it definitely felt like a soothing warm winter comfort food.

Rick felt it didn’t have that “comfort” feeling and said he thought the junkie ingredients is what made it comfort food.

Alex disagreed and felt that the warm pasta and creamy sauce was enough to call it a comfort food and he thought it was pretty delicious. Even though he’s not a big fan of hemp seeds, he didn’t seem to mind the topping.

Maybe at some point, I’ll go through these recipes and do a side-by-side nutritional comparison I just don’t have that in me right now.

NOTE: I had some extra sauce that we added because I thought it was a little dry. Use your judgment here. It really has to do with the brand and volume of the pasta. Add milk and broth to the recipe as you see fit. Maybe just another cup of liquid in all.

 

SATURDAY 3 RECIPE PICK

It was hard for me to pick this week. First, I selected Coronation Chicken Curry as a snide commentary on the fact that this inauguration feels more like the coronation of a petulant king. But I can’t keep focusing on my grief over the President…the point has been made. I also want something sweet and cheery and delicious like my mom’s Lemon Bars. After all who isn’t instantly brightened up by a lemon dessert in winter? Then I just closed my eyes, took a breath, asked my mom…. I landed on Cod Chowder (or in RI we’d say, “chowdah”). This is not one of the hand-written recipe cards but a photo copy of her original recipe. The note where she’s teaching me about rendering cracked me up….it is SO my Mom!

See you next Saturday!

Tags: casserole, comfort food, dinner, from the heart, healthier recipe, pasta