Recipe: Tuna noodle casserole

The holidays are always a frenzy, especially in the kitchen. You've got all four burners going on the stove, three different things in the oven, another in the convection oven, something in the slow cooker, maybe even on the grill or deep-fryer outside. It's no wonder that we just want to all take it easy after the holidays are over.

Enter the tuna casserole. It's simple and quick to make, and produces a hearty one-dish meal for the entire family. And it also makes for good leftovers--send it with your husband to work, serve it to the kids after school, eat it yourself at your desk while trying to take care of work and household tasks. It allows a combination of flavors all in one dish, so there's less clean-up without sacrificing blandness.

Maybe for some culinarians (is this even a word?), tuna casserole sounds oh so boring, unadventurous. And while I do think of it as the typical American meal originating from the 1950s with the picture-perfect housewife in her petticoat, apron, and pointy-cupped bra holding a spatula in one hand and the tuna casserole in the other, I was, for whatever reason, craving a college comfort food. Yes, in college, I was the master of Hamburger Helper and Tuna Helper. It was one of the first things I learned to "cook." But now that I'm a decade older, I thought maybe I should skip the meal-in-a-box and try making it from scratch.

Besides being a college comfort food, Starkist tuna is a childhood favorite. I know most of you will cringe at the thought of this, but my mama used to feed me rice mixed with tuna and fish sauce. The tuna always had to be the kind in vegetable oil (I don't even know if they had the spring water kind then, and even if they did, it would've been too dry and blegh), and she'd mash the rice/tuna/fish sauce mix with the back of the spoon--the oil aiding in coagulating the rice mixture, shaping it into a mound inside the bowl before placing it in my happy, open arms. To this day, I still crave this comfort food from my younger years every so often. My husband always makes a face, saying it's disgusting, but one can never explain one's comfort food, right?

Anyway, this tuna casserole is an adequate Americanized substitute for my rice and fish sauce variety. I found it still tasty for days afterward. I love the browned cheese. Yum!

Note: As much as it is delicious, tuna casserole is definitely not photogenic For this reason, I decided to forego the picture and just post a pic of Charlie the Tunafish instead. Don't ask me how I know the logo's name.

Recipe: Tuna Casserole

Summary: Original recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 (12 oz.) pkg. egg noodles, cooked to al dente
• 2 (6 oz.) cans tuna, drained
• 2 (10.75 oz.) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 c. frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 c. fresh or canned sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 1/4 c. minced onion
• 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 c. Ritz crackers, crushed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a lg. bowl, combine, egg noodles, tuna, cream of mushroom, peas, mushrooms, onion, and 1 c. cheddar cheese. Spread in a lightly greased 9"x13" baking dish. Cover with cracker crumbs and remaining cheddar cheese.
3. Bake for 10 to 15 min. or until cheese is brown and bubbly.

Variations

I used Ritz crackers in my version since this is what I had on hand. But the original recipe calls for 1 c. crushed potato chips. If this is what I happen to have on hand next time, I'll use chips instead. Or try using Panco bread crumbs; as Alton Brown puts it, they offer a better breading alternative than just regular bread crumbs.

Cooking time (duration): 25

Diet type: Pescatarian

Meal type: lunch

Culinary tradition: USA (Traditional)

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This is a dish I really did cook entirely on my own, so if the Blind can Cook it, so can you.