Hot Dish (Upper Midwest)

Considering that I am professor, you can assume that I'm part of that damn liberal, secular, elite that loves my organic groceries in reusable tote bags, my New York Times and my fuel efficient car.  I teach ethnic studies, women's studies and African-American history to scores of young people in order to advance my feminist, anti-family and leftist agenda.  Although Bill O'Reilly, among others, thinks me and my arugala-eating friends are destroying America, I come to you in the spirit of bi-partinship.  Food knows no political party.  In states, whether they be red, blue or purple, everyone likes to share a hearty meal, prepared with love with their friends and family and complain about gas prices.  So, today's blog is a nod to our elephant-loving friends assembled in Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention.  

Unlike my previous posts, this regional dish embodies a myriad of creative concoctions that takes the basics of the home pantry and yields a complete, sometimes even nutritionally balanced meal.  Minnesotans are known for their hearty, if sometimes uninspired, culinary tastes, and nothing screams "Ain't that America," like hot dish.  The formula for hot dish is simple.  Take one part meat, two parts canned soup-preferably creamed, one part vegetable-usually frozen or canned, combine and then top with a crumbly mixture of either a) smashed Ritz crackers, b) tater tots, c) or crumbled potato chips.  The most famous hot dishes include tuna noodle casserole, hashbrown and cheese and sour cream casserole, and green bean casserole with friend onions and cream of mushroom soup.

Of course, I'm too busy recycling, supporting same-sex unions, and fist-bumping my husband to experiment with hot dishes.  But, I do have a hot dish-ish recipe that may fit the bill.  I also have strayed from the traditional hot dish (what a surprise) by nixing the butter, whole milk and other heavy binders used in these casseroles.  Yet, my hot dish specialty is a corn bread casserole, made with good ol' fashioned packaged foods prepared by the good ol' food industry.  This dish is not ruined by my fancy organic foods or hippie farmer's market junk.  To start, heat up your oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, mix up one can of Libby's fat-free creamed corn, one box of Jiffy Cornbread Muffin mix, add one and a half cups of  skim milk, one egg, add one cup Green Giant frozen corn niblets, add one cup sharp cheddar cheese, add a chopped up jalapeno, one chopped red pepper and one chopped green pepper.  Then, sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar into the batter just to sweeten it up.  Place it in a 9X13 glass casserole dish, sprayed with Pam non-stick spray. If the thought of a vegetarian hot dish is anathema to you, you can add in some real crumbled bacon, but if you want to keep it vegetarian, you can actually add Bacos, which do not include any meat.  I know, fake bacon product...yum.  Sprinkle the top of the casserole with a little more cheese and bake.  Bake for a about forty minutes.  You want to preserve some of the creaminess of the pudding, so don't overbake.  But, if you do, you've just created a wonderful cornbread.  Invite some of your activist, intellectual, anarchist or performance artist friends and dazzle them with your ability to connect to 'real people' by making 'real food.' Enjoy as a main dish hot dish or a side dish hot dish.  

Happy Eating!