My kids nor I will ever forget the summer of yellow squash. It was the first year I had planted at the community garden and I had no idea that, unless I was planning to peddle squash on the street corner, I had no business planting so many plants! Oh, to flashback to the beginning!
Since ours was a new garden, the squash bugs hadn’t found us yet, so this crop flourished! We made squash into pancakes, patties, dried it, fried it and gave it to our friends. Even I was sick of the sight of yellow squash, which is saying a lot, because I love this buttery tasting veggie. The traditional yellow squash casserole that graces every table at Thanksgiving, not a huge fan. I don’t know if it is a texture thing or what, but sorry Aunt Shirley, just being honest here. During the summer of yellow squash I came up with my own version of this traditional casserole and I am pleased to report that my kids ask for it! They actually can’t wait to see yellow squash appear again on the menu!
I cook the beans the day before and make tostadas with half of them. Then the next night they are ready to go into my casserole. See fart-less bean recipe here. You can easily use canned beans though. When I make this I double the recipe and make two casserole pans. One to eat and one to freeze for sometime when I am crazy busy and don’t have time to cook. Enjoy.
- 5 or 6 yellow medium yellow squash sliced then cut into smaller pieces.
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- a small handful of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 4-6 cups of pinto or navy beans cooked or canned drained of juice
- 4 cups of cooked rice
- a few cups of any meat you want, I have used chicken, ground beef and sausage. We like sausage best. Cooked at least partially.
- 2 cups cheddar cheese saving some for top of casserole.
- First I brown my sausage, onion and garlic in a big skillet then set aside.
- While sausage is cooking I cook my rice(1 cup dried rice and 2 cups water)
- In the same skillet I browned my meat in I put my squash, 1/2 cup chicken broth and thyme(I tie a bit of kitchen string around my thyme bunch stems and all. Stick it under the squash while it cooks then pull it out.) Put the lid on and cook down about 10 minutes
- In the biggest bowl I have I combine Squash, meat, rice, beans. Throw in most of the cheese saving some for top of casserole. Mix it all well. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Sprinkle cheese on top cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. You can take the foil off at the end to brown it up on top.
Do you have a different twist to a traditional Thanksgiving dish, maybe using something from your garden? Link it in the comments. We would love to hear.
I am hoping you have more squash then you know what to do with! Blessings, Dash
I loved that you’ve used Thyme in this recipe. It sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hope I hope we see you again today. Pinning!