Dinner Plate #62

 

I've had poppy seed "chicken" casserole on my list of things to try for over a year, and I finally did it! The recipe is from Go Dairy Free. With that, I had some spelt ribbon noodles, corn sauteed with orange bell pepper and onions, carrots, and broccoli.

I understand that this casserole is a take on a midwestern classic, but I had never had it. It was fine, but I'd probably be more excited about it if I felt nostalgic about it. It used some poppy seeds, which was why it was on my to-try list, and I'm inspired to try adding poppy seeds to more cracker-topped casseroles, so that was a win. The water chestnuts were a bit weird in this, but not bad. For what it's worth, I used Beyond Chicken unbreaded pieces and Tofutti sour cream in this.

The spelt ribbons were on clearance. I didn't mind them--they were pretty good, actually, with some Earth Balance and seasoned salt and dried parsley--but if you are looking for a classic ribbon noodle, you might be disappointed. They're basically just whole wheat pasta, which is fine--and I do think I should be eating more whole wheat pastas--but they don't have the addictive quality of those macaroni dumplings I usually bring in as a substitute for egg noodles.

All in all, a perfectly fine, midwestern-style American meal, which I ate with thoughts of the people of Minneapolis.