I married a very patient and understanding man.

You may be wondering why I mention this, so let me give you some recent context…

Characters:

• Tom, loving husband who is half-asleep
• Alaina, constantly-moving wife who is wide awake

Scene:

It is 11PM on a weekday night–about five minutes after the couple has said “goodnight” and turned off all the lights. The room is dark, quiet, and still.

• Alaina: Babe, I can’t sleep.
• Tom: Mmphh?
• Alaina: Seriously, I’m wide awake.
• Tom: Mmmmph
• Alaina: Like WIDE awake.
• Tom: [Suddenly more verbal] The sky’s asleep so you should be asleep.
• Alaina: [Laughs at clever Frozen reference] Fiiiiine.

{Five more minutes pass, wife continues to toss and turn, mind wandering}

• Alaina: [Without warning, jumps and startles herself and sleeping husband and jumps on him like Anna jumps on Elsa in the movie Frozen] TOM, I HAVE AN IDEA!!!
• Tom: [Completely startled, looks somewhat afraid] What? What is it?!
• Alaina: I COULD MAKE HOTDISH WITH BROCCOLI SLAW INSTEAD OF PASTA!!!
• Tom: Huh?
• Alaina: Oh my gosh. Tom. Imagine. I could take the slaw and add onions and peppers and tomato sauce and BABE I COULD USE GROUND BEEF IF YOU WANTED!!
• Tom: Sure, babe. Sounds great.
• Alaina: Oh my goodness. I’m so excited!

{Wife is quiet for a few more minutes…husband thinks he may actually finally get to go to sleep}

• Alaina: [Again, abruptly] CELERY!!!!!!!
• Tom: What?!
• Alaina: I forgot I should add celery! My grandma’s recipe always had celery! Ooh! Ooh! And I should add red pepper flakes.
• Tom: Ah.
• Alaina: I’ll go to bed now. DANG THIS SOUNDS DELICIOUS IN MY HEAD. I’m going to dream about what I would call it!
• Tom: Can’t wait, babe. I love you. Goodnight.
• Alaina: [At much too loud a decibel for 11:30PM] Whoa! It’s late! We have to go to sleep!!! Goodnight!

{Husband, a saintly man,  says nothing… although he was definitely thinking that it was late and we needed to go to bed for the entirety of the exchange}

So, I know the above exchange may portray me as a crazy person, but here’s the deal. I get really excited about food. And I get even more excited when I think of a recipe that I can create that Tom will love and that I will feel good about eating.

Now, to back up, I did not just have a hotdish epiphany out of the blue. As the weather has been turning cooler, my mind and tastebuds and have been wondering towards oven meals and comforting dishes that warm you from the inside out. And there is nothing more comforting (or Minnesotan) than the hotdish.

To pause for a second, if you’re wondering what a hotdish is…you’re most likely not from Minnesota.

Here are some examples of tried and true Minnesota hotdishes–usually including a heavy starch base (pasta/rice/tater tots), a condensed soup sauce, some meat (usually ground beef), and some veggies thrown in so we can call it “healthy” when we serve it to our families:

Now here’s the deal–you don’t mess with Minnesotans and our hotdish. Every tried and true Minnesotan family has an old family recipe that’s simply called “hotdish” and there is no descriptor necessary. Grandma makes it for the entire crew when everyone’s together (since these dishes can feed a crowd–it’s just part of their magic), and it’s something everyone loves. Why? Because it’s carbs, meat, and sauce. There is literally nothing that would not taste good made of these things.

Growing up, my family’s version of “hotdish” was of the spaghetti-based variety. Being that Tom’s favorite food is spaghetti, I knew there had to be a way to transform this traditional hotdish that consists of spaghetti, condensed tomato soup, ketchup, and breadcrumbs into something that delivered upon the same comforting flavors in a healthier manner.

So…where’s the compromise?

Here’s our answer:

• Swapping carbohydrate-heavy spaghetti for broccoli slaw
  • One of my favorite spaghetti substitutes–and it’s easier than spaghetti squash to make!
• Maintaining the rich, creamy tomato flavors by using real tomatoes and greek yogurt married with some traditional Italian spices 
• Enhancing the nutrient-density (and texture!) of the dish by adding lots of onion, garlic, bell peppers, & celery
• Utilizing ground turkey instead of ground beef (because you can’t tell the difference)
• Adding shredded parmesan/mozzarella cheese because cheese is delicious
• …and using home-seasoned breadcrumbs to cut back on the sodium-levels (and up the flavor!)

 

| Hot (Diggity-Dang) Dish |

Serves: 6 Tom’s or 8 Alaina’s

Ingredients Needed:

For the sauce:

• 2, 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
  • I use Market Pantry, but for whatever brand you choose check the back. It should be JUST tomato puree, water, and some seasonings. No sugar, no oil, no words you can’t pronounce!

• 1  15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup plain 0% greek yogurt

For the “pasta”:

• 2, 12 oz. packages broccoli slaw
  • I buy the Archer Farms or Trader Joe’s versions–but any ready-to-eat slaw will work! You find it in the produce section.

For the yummy fillings:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
  • You can use lean ground beef as well…but you honestly cannot tell the difference!
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • The flatter they are, the sweeter they are…try to find the flattest one you can!
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 3 bell peppers (any color), chopped
• 1 cup mozzarella/parmesan shredded cheese
  • I buy this combination pre-packaged (Market Pantry brand…are you surprised?), but if you can’t find it just use 60% shredded mozzarella and 40% shredded parmesan 

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
  • Like the tomato sauce, look for the packaged breadcrumbs with the fewest ingredients. Processed foods are often where sneaky sugars, salts, and oils hide–you don’t want this in your food! This is a big reason you season these yourself–you don’t need the other stuff that’s put in pre-seasoned breadcrumbs.
  • Just FYI, the cheapest I’ve found is Simply Balanced Plain Breadcrumbs–it’s Target’s organic house-brand. And yes, I did look at the price and ingredient deck of every single brand in the store. And yes, I know I’m a crazy person. 

• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt

 

Directions:

First, make the sauce…

• Place the tomato sauce, drained diced tomatoes, and seasonings in a sauce pot and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally

• While that’s working to simmer, place your greek yogurt in a bowl
• Once simmering, remove the sauce from heat and take 1/2 cup of the sauce and stir into the greek yogurt to temper it

• Once combined, add yogurt/sauce mixture back into the sauce and whisk to combine

 

After setting your sauce aside, cook your slaw..

• Bring a large skillet to medium-high heat
• Add the slaw and 1/2 cup water

• Stir occasionally, essentially “stir frying” slaw for about five minutes
• After five minutes have passed, remove from heat and set aside

Next up, make the rest of the yummy filling…

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
• In a dutch oven or other stovetop-to-oven dish, brown your ground turkey
  • Note: If you don’t have a dutch oven or stovetop-to-oven dish, simply brown this in a pan that can hold all the meat and veggies

• Once the turkey is almost fully cooked, add your onion, garlic, celery, and peppers and cook until all ingredients are softened (especially that celery!!)
  • Due to all the liquid from these veggies, you may need to drain or spoon out some liquid once everything is softened. Use your own discretion–but remember a little liquid won’t hurt!

Now you just have to put it all together!

• In your dutch oven that has all your fillings, stir in your cooked broccoli slaw, sauce that you previously made, and that delicious shredded cheese
  • Again, if you don’t have a dutch oven, simply combine all ingredients in an oven-safe dish

• While that sits, quickly make your seasoned breadcrumbs by combining all seasonings with your breadcrumbs in a bowl and mixing well

• Top your hotdish with the seasoned breadcrumbs
  • You may not use all of the breadcrumbs you seasoned–it’s okay! Depending on the surface area of the top of your dish, you may need slightly less. You want a thick enough layer to have a crust, but you don’t want so much that your topping won’t brown. 

• Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes
  • If after 50 minutes your breadcrumbs have not browned enough, you can broil your dish for 2-3 minutes on high.  This creates a nice crunchy crust. 

You did it! Now serve!

• Serve warm and top with parmesan cheese
  • Like I said in my earlier blog about spaghetti, we recommend Mama Francesca’s parmesan/asiago/romano mix. It’s so flavorful and delicious!

• If you desire, serve with a green salad or other veggie. That being said, you have so many in the dish…you really don’t need to!

So that’s all, folks. It’s that easy to make a healthy, hearty hotdish that’s good enough to serve to even the pickiest native Minnesotan hotdish-lover. Beyond being scrumptious to the eyes (it’s so colorful!), this dish is packed with delicious flavors from the copious amount of veggies and seasonings it contains. And you even get to maintain the classic crunchy breadcrumb topping from traditional hotdishes–it’s just a bit healthier and easier to (literally) swallow when you don’t pair it with pounds of pasta.

And like all truly good hotdishes, this meal is a crowd-pleaser that even your pickiest seven year-old niece or ninety year-old great uncle will love. Why? Because it tastes like  spaghetti and meatballs. And everyone loves spaghetti and meatballs.

So as the holidays approach, neverfear! Take a lesson from Minnesota and serve this classic, simple hotdish at your next family gathering. Everyone will love its robust flavors and comfort-food flair…and you’ll love how good it feels to be feeding your family hearty food that’s truly good for them.

I think you’ll be surprised just how much your family loves this dish. I know I was surprised how much Tom loved it. He went back for seconds…and thirds. He just couldn’t get enough.

In fact, Tom loved it so much I wouldn’t be surprised that if next time we’re thinking of what to make for dinner, he breaks out into song a la Frozen’s “Do You Want to Build a Snowman“…

I can hear it now: “Do you want to make a hotdishhhh?!”

Here’s to making many more culinary compromises…all in the name of love.

xoxo,

alaina