What is 'Hotdish'??

 Hamburger 'Hotdish' and Broccoli

Oh I know, it's not very cosmopolitan to call it 'hotdish,' for now everyone says 'casserole.' I'm not sure why that's supposed to be better, but...

When I was growing up, anything that was a mixture of food and wasn't cereal was called 'hotdish.' We ate a lot of hotdish because it was cheap. (My parents lived through the Great Depression, which resulted in a lifestyle of frugality.) Living on a farm, we usually had beef in the freezer. So any combination of ground beef, rice, noodles, celery, onion, tomatoes, peppers, and usually a can of some poison soup (the most extravagant ingredient)...was called hotdish.  It filled us up. That was the objective.

 So even today, one of my 'emergency' dinners is 'hotdish.' I almost always have cooked basmati rice in the refrigerator and an assortment of peppers and olives, so it's easy to throw something edible together in a few minutes. Although I never use poison soup, I sometimes use a plain yogurt to hold things together. In this case, I didn't use any. I might use yogurt if I were using canned chicken breast rather than ground beef as the base. Sometimes I use a jar of canned tomatoes. It all depends.

Note: My mother would not have used the olives, the Liquid Aminos, the Worcestershire sauce, or the Cayenne. Scandinavian cooking, at least that which I grew up eating, does not tax the taste buds. Personally, I enjoy the more flavorful additions in the recipe below.

Emergency 'Hotdish' Dinner - Recipe:

Ground beef
Garlic, minced
Onion, diced
Peppers (various), diced
Celery, thinly sliced
Worcestershire sauce (enough to taste good)
Bragg's Liquid Aminos (enough to taste good but not enough to give me a headache)
Cayenne pepper to taste
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Sliced Kalamata olives (or black olives or whatever olives you have on hand)
Cooked rice (or cooked noodles or cooked spaghetti or...)

In a little olive oil, brown the ground beef, garlic, onion, peppers, celery in a skillet on Med-Hi.
Add some Worcestershire sauce, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, stirring and tasting (PLEASE use a different spoon for each taste. I shudder to think of anyone putting that spoon in twice. Ewwwww!) Sprinkle on a generous dusting of cayenne, salt, and pepper. Slice kalamatas or black olives and add to mixture. Stir in a couple cups of cooked rice.  Cover and turn burner to low, heating thoroughly.

Serve with Tarragon/Garlic Broccoli, Angela's new recipe.

Broccoli with Tarragon and Garlic

Steam a couple heads of broccoli. Sprinkle with some Tarragon flakes and garlic powder. Place in skillet that has a couple T. olive oil in it. Actually, this link takes you to her official recipe. I'm sure I'm using more olive oil than she calls for. Check it out. She has a lot of good recipes there.

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P.S.
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