The blog name says it all 
If you love to eat and you have children, you will appreciate the name of the blog I was assigned for the Secret Recipe Club this month: Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo! Being that Elmo literally “saved” me during my daughter’s fussy baby days, I am quite fond of the little monster!
This blog is written by Ginny, a beautiful mom with a sweet family of four. Take a moment to pay her a visit to say hello and see some delicious dishes she has shared.
A Delicious Casserole Recipe
For today’s reveal, I settled on a casserole recipe to add to our collection of delicious main dish recipes! We are constantly dealing with food sensitivities and recently started using non-dairy cheese in some dishes. Both of our children like cheese, but The Well-Fed Son cannot have it very often due to a very strong amines sensitivity, and The Well-Fed Daughter, we think, is slightly sensitive to dairy. For whatever reason, it only just recently occurred to us to try non-dairy cheese.
So when I saw the Beef, Bean and Cheese Casserole, I knew I had my March recipe, since they both also love beans. I had to substitute red pepper for the tomato since tomatoes are also high in amines, and I used crushed gluten-free pretzels instead of the cornbread. I made a couple other modifications (no pepper and added some kale). It was delicious!
The Result
The Well-Fed Daughter is going through a picky eater phase where she won’t touch anything new, so I’m not sure she even tried it. She doesn’t know what she was missing out on. Her brother devoured his and wanted seconds! When this happens, we know we have a keeper for sure. I am not sure if The Chef tried it. Sometimes he gets home a little later and does his own thing for supper!
Without further ado, the recipe…
Recipe: Beef, Bean & Cheese Casserole
Adapted from recipe by Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo
Ingredients
- 2+ tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small bunch kale, diced
- 1 pound ground beef or bison
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder (more if you like the heat)
- 26-ounce can pinto beans, drained
- 14-ounce can whole corn kernels, drained
- 1 pound shredded cheese (I used non-dairy cheddar)
- Approximately 2 cups pretzels, finely crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish. (I use coconut oil whenever possible!)
- Using a large skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons coconut oil.
- Carefully add the onion, bell pepper and kale to the heated oil and saute for about 7-8 minutes, until the onion is soft.
- Add the ground meat. Brown for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring often and breaking up the larger clumps of meat with a wooden spoon.
- Add seasonings and stir well.
- Add the beans, corn, and tomatoes.
- Taste it. Add more salt if necessary. Remove from heat.
- Stir in cheese and mix well.
- Turn the cheese/meat/veggie mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Pour crushed pretzels over the meat and cheese mixture. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until well-heated throughout.
Quick notes
If desired, you can prepare the meat/cheese/veggie mixture ahead of time and refrigerate for up to a day.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 40 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
My rating
Copyright © The Saturday Evening Pot.
More good recipes from a previous Secret Recipe Club Reveal:
 
Love & Flour had our blog and made our Garlic Lime Shrimp recipe!
Check out the other recipes for today’s Group A Reveal!
About the Author
Adopted at age 2, grew up in the Charlotte, NC area. Obtained Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University. Loves being a Mom of two and taste-testing Chef John's culinary creations and sharing them with readers.
My husband would probably devour this if I put bison in it. I'm always looking for a great casserole since it makes enough food for lunches and leftovers for a busy week. This one sounds great. Great SRC pick!
Thank you… bison does sound good. Give it a try!
YUM!! Love your subs.
what a great casserole! yay for src
Looking forward to having it again soon ourselves…. yes, so excited to be a part of SRC!
this sounds like a great casserole! love the kale
We are going to be making it again soon… it was so good and such a huge success with our son. We're big kale fans as well! Give it a try.
That sounds delicious! I love that blog, too. I might just have all of the ingredients for that dish…except for the pretzels. I do panko breadcrumbs. This could be dinner tonight. Thanks for the inspiration.
Oh, great… I hope you do give it a try! I didn't even think about that fact that most of the ingredients you probably would have on hand.
Ahhh!! I love your adaptations! I was just thinking that I should delete this recipe from my blog because it uses Velveeta…and I don't really cook with processed food any longer. But I adore your additions-kale, crushed pretzels, etc. And coconut oil….swoon!
Love, love, love this. I need to try your version…like tonight!
Thanks,
Ginny
Thank you, Ginny! I can't even tell you how much your feedback means to me, given I don't do most of the cooking here and only in the past year or so have even dared to try adapting a recipe. I'm getting "better"! LOL I will be over to your blog in a bit to see what you made for today.
Your casserole sounds delicious.
If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC entry Loaded Potato Soup.
Lisa~~
Thank you! I sure will check that out!