Easy Garden Bake

This is another one of my favorite brunch casseroles and it is perfect for those times you have a bunch of different vegetables and want to throw together something satisfying and balanced in no time at all. It can easily be an easy lunch or dinner with a salad, as well. 

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped zucchini (about 1 smaller)- you can always add more
• 1 large tomato, chopped- about 1 cup, or may use chopped cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 medium - large onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup baking mix of choice
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp salt (may use a seasoned salt)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend, crushed in palm of hand (or 1/2- 3/4 tsp oregano, crushed)
• 2 eggs
• cheese of choice for topping - I like Monterey Jack, Cheddar and Mozzarella  
• green onion and parsley or cilantro for garnish

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease square baking dish- 8x8 or 9 inch pie plate (I doubled everything and put in 13x9 inch pan because I like leftovers!). 
• Sprinkle chopped vegetables and parmesan cheese evenly over baking dish. 
• Stir baking mix, milk, salt, pepper, seasoning and eggs together and pour over top of the vegetables and cheese.
• Bake uncovered about 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove to wire rack and sprinkle with cheese for topping. Cool 5 minutes and then garnish with fresh chopped parsley or cilantro and sliced green onions, if desired. 

*This is also wonderful with 1 cup cooked chicken or sausage added in with vegetables when assembling the casserole.

[Adapted from Bisquick Breakfast and Brunches recipe booklet, 1999]

Savory Breakfast Casserole

In our family, we LOVE breakfast/brunch. My husband would think he was in heaven if he could have eggs and homefries every day. In my family growing up, we enjoyed sausage regularly, and there is just something that I love about meat of any type with sausage spices. I have always loved eggs, sausage and cheese and this recipe has all these elements plus some veggies. I was given a brunch recipe booklet by Bisquick early in my marriage by a good friend, and this recipe has become one of my go-to recipes that we never become tired of. It is a little easier to assemble if you prepare your vegetables, sauté the meat and have the other ingredients ready to go ahead of time. I recently tried a homemade Bisquick/baking mix and used it in this recipe and did not see any difference in flavor or texture. I believe the homemade baking mix is healthier overall since it does not use partially hydrogenated oils or large amounts of salt. For the baking mix recipe, click on the highlighted words below.

Ingredients:


1 pound sausage, cooked and drained (use bulk or links, but cut open and remove from casing)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup green onions, sliced (or use a combination of chopped white onions and green) 
1/2 red, green or yellow bell pepper, diced (or any other type of pepper)
1/2 - 1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or other cheeses (8 oz.), I used some mild cheddar
1 1/2 cups baking mix
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp salt (I used Adobo seasoned salt)
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 3/4 tsp dried oregano
12 eggs
extra cheese for topping, approximately 1/2 cup


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray 13x9 rectangular baking dish. Layer sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomatoes and cheese in dish.  Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over cheese. Bake uncovered about 30-35 minutes or until center is set and top is golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle extra cheese over top. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.


Serves 12


adapted from Bisquick Breakfasts & Brunches (No 22) copyright 1999 "Savory Sausage and Egg Bake"
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Chicken Vegetable Casserole

Usually I do not make many casseroles. I am the type to make more skillet dishes that do not require baking after cooking. However, this has become a favorite with our family recently and is a real comfort food. When our third child was born this past December, some friends and family were very nice to bring us meals. One of those meals was brought by my sister-in-law and is featured in this post. We really enjoyed this recipe and I decided to remake it using leftover cooked turkey. It really is a versatile casserole in which one might substitute a number of different or combination of vegetables, pasta instead of the potato, or fish instead of chicken or turkey. I also added a little chicken broth that I needed to use up. This recipe originally was from a Manor Brethren In Christ cookbook entitled Sharing His Goodness and was submitted by Christie Hunt. She noted that it was a recipe given to them after one of the babies was brought home from the hospital. This probably is also a recipe that one could make up in larger quantities and freeze part of it. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cup cooked chicken, cubed (or turkey or even fish)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (may substitute cream of celery or mushroom soup if desired, or if using fish)
• 4 potatoes, peeled, boiled and chunked
• 1 1/2 cups cooked carrots, or a mixture of other vegetables (I added some peas, as well as some onion and celery finely chopped)
• 1 sleeve of ritz crackers or other buttery crackers, crushed (may substitute bread crumbs and parmesan cheese)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-3 quart baking dish. 
• Combine the sour cream, milk and cream soup (as well as broth if using it) together. Add in the chicken (meat), potatoes (or pasta) and vegetables. Mix together and put in the prepared baking dish. 
• Melt the butter and mix with the cracker crumbs or bread crumbs (and poppy seeds, if using them). Spread over top of the casserole . 
• Bake uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbly.