I love the convenience of casseroles, but I can do without the calories that come from the dairy products used to make the one-dish meals so rich and creamy. My fellow blogger, Angela agrees and challenged me to find some casserole recipes that were light on fattening dairy products.
I found two recipes that I tried over the weekend. One is a Light Tuna Casserole created by the folks at Bon Appetit magazine. The other is a Dairy-Free Chicken and Rice Casserole from a church cookbook. Both were easy to make and surprisingly tasty, despite being light on dairy products.
DAIRY-FREE CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
2 cups instant rice cooked in chicken broth
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
2 cups dairy free cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 cup mayonnaise substitute (like Veganaise)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
Dairy free margarine
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix all of the ingredients together except for the crackers and margarine in a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish.
Right before cooking, sprinkle top of casserole with crackers and place small pieces of margarine on top of the crackers.
Bake 45 minutes.
Remove and serve.
LIGHT TUNA CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons Neufchatel cheese (reduced-fat cream cheese)
1 6-ounce can solid white tuna packed in water, undrained
1 6-ounce can chunk light tuna packed in water, undrained
1 cup frozen peas, unthawed
8 ounces farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
1/2 cup crushed baked potato chips (about 1 ounce)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray 8 by 8 by 2-inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
Whisk wine and cornstarch in small bowl to blend.
Whisk flour in heavy medium saucepan to remove any lumps. Gradually add milk to flour, whisking until smooth. Add broth and thyme and whisk over medium heat until liquid thickens and boils, about 4 minutes.
Add cornstarch mixture and whisk until liquid boils and is smooth, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Add Neufchatel cheese and whisk until melted. Stir in both cans of tuna with their liquid and frozen peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta. Return to pot.
Add tuna mixture to pasta; stir to blend well.
Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with potato chips.
Bake until top is golden and sauce bubbles around edges of dish, about 25 minutes.
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