Sunday, October 25, 2009

Crawfish Casserole

I am up and at 'em early thanks to a congested Lila. She couldn't suck on her pacifier because of congestion so she woke up at 4:15. I tried getting her to sleep in our bed which worked for a little while. Once the newness wore off she started getting restless so we got up. By 6:00 a.m. we'd had breakfast and done some laundry and cleaned some so now I am cooking some casseroles and she is playing with a basketball and a crawfish tray. I have doubled the recipe and am making one small casserole for us and one for a co-worker whose father passed away. This is what I'm cooking:

1 small pkg. saffron rice
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 stick butter (health nut here uses 1/2 stick-still tastes good to me!)
1 can Rotel tomatoes (spice to your liking)
1 lb crawfish tails
1 can cream of mushroom soup (use the lowfat--you'll never know)
grated cheddar cheese

Cook rice according to package directions. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute celery, bell pepper, and onion in butter. Add tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes. Combine cooked rice, tomato mixture, soup and crawfish in 9 X 13 casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes--until bubbly.

I have found that this is a recipe that you can just not bake right away and it will last in the refrigerator for a few days until you need it. I am not sure how it freezes; I don't always like dishes that involve frozen rice. I originally got the recipe from an old friend.