Casserole good enough for company?

[workerbee]

We are having dinner guests Friday and the time has gotten away from me! Does anyone have a good go-to casserole recipe that is decent enough to serve to company? With work obligations, I'm afraid I won't have time to prep much, but I could throw together a casserole on Thursday night or early Friday morning. Then just heat it with a good salad (and maybe one more side?). Thinking brownies and ice cream for dessert.

The twist here is that one of the guests has celiac so is gluten free. That guest is probably going to bring her own food b/c of concerns about cross-contamination, but I'd like to be somewhat accommodating (i.e. not serve an entire meal that she can't touch...). I can manage to keep the salad gluten free, and I would welcome any suggestions for (easy!) gluten free dessert options as well.

Thanks. Nothing like planning at the last minute. 

[Outdoor Girl]

Your ice cream for dessert will be fine.  Maybe add some fresh berries to put on it?  Make sure to have a new container and serve your GF friend first.

You could do a lasagna for everyone else and purchase GF pasta and GF sauce to serve your GF friend, if she doesn't bring her own.  Or even do a vegetable lasagna where you use slices of zucchini or eggplant, in place of the noodles.  Pick up a nice loaf of crusty bread and a GF roll at a good GF bakery to go with it and the salad?

[ladyknight1]

I would make a casserole with a naturally GF starch. Rice or potatoes are probably the simplest. Maybe a cottage pie? Ground beef with carrots and peas, in a little GF beef broth thickened with cornstarch and topped with mashed potatoes?

Dessert would be a fruit and ice cream combo.

[Outdoor Girl]

I would make a casserole with a naturally GF starch. Rice or potatoes are probably the simplest. Maybe a cottage pie? Ground beef with carrots and peas, in a little GF beef broth thickened with cornstarch and topped with mashed potatoes?

Dessert would be a fruit and ice cream combo.

That's a great idea!

I have a recipe somewhere for a dish called Chicken Mozerella.  It has chicken breasts, canned tomatoes, peppers, mozzerella cheese and I'm not sure what else.  I think it would be great, except for the fact that there is no way I can find that recipe for you in time for you to make it Thursday night or Friday morning - it isn't one in current rotation.  If I do find it in the future, I'll post it in the recipe section.

[amylouky]

I like Chicken Ole.
Six chicken breasts, 2 cans of corn drained, 2 cans of Rotel. Mix the corn, Rotel, and chili powder to taste (I use about 2 tablespoons but we like it spicy.) Place the chicken in a 9x13 dish and cover with corn/rotel mixture. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Cover with 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and bake until cheese is melted and lightly brown.

[camlan]

Chili is also a good dish to make ahead.

But you need to check that the chili powder and anything else you use are gluten-free. Canned tomatoes are, but spices might not be.

[EllenS]

As pp mentioned, there are many variants on a cottage pie/shepherd's pie -

Layer of protein with a little broth
Layer of seasoned veggies, sprinkle with corstarch or other GF thickener
Top with mashed root veggie

I've done it with fish, peas, and white potato; ground beef, peas & carrots,
After thanksgiving I did one with turkey, middle layer was the succotash, topped with mashed leftover sweet potato.

Using slightly unusual or ingredients can elevate it a bit, and as long as the layers of seasoning match you are good.

[Hmmmmm]

Southern Living has a good Cajun Shrimp Casserole with Rice if you think your guests are shellfish eaters. I often make it with frozen crawfish tails instead of shrimp. Just make sure to buy the Lousiana ones and not the imported asian ones.

They also ahve a Chicken, Mushroom, and Sage Casserole that is very easy to throw together in the morning, put in fridge and then just bake for about 30 minutes when you get home. And I always think the sitting time in the fridge during the day improves the flavor.

[Firecat]

Baked apples are easy, gluten free, and delicious. You can serve them with ice cream if you want to, as well. There are tons of recipes out there, including some for the crockpot.

But the basic idea is that you take whatever number of apples you need (I use "cooking" apples like Cortland or MacIntosh).

Wash and core the apples (leaving the apple whole other than the removal of the core). Put the apples in a baking dish. Fill the cavity left by the core by lightly packing it with brown sugar on each apple. Add a small pat of butter to the top of each apple. Sprinkle with cinnamon and maybe some nutmeg. Add water to the dish until it's not quite half an inch deep. Bake until the apples are soft (350 degrees seems to work fine, 30-40 minutes). Let cool slightly and serve with cream, whipped cream, ice cream, whatever.

The nice thing is, you can prep the apples while the casserole is baking, and put the apples into the oven when the casserole comes out. Easy, delicious, and gluten free (as long as your spices are, anyway).

[doodlemor]

You could put meat and vegetables in the crockpot [if you have one] on Friday morning.  You could do an inexpensive cut of beef with onions, carrots, potatoes, and celery, or a chicken with celery, onions, and carrots.  Both pots would be gluten free.  A salad would round out the meal, and you could serve brown rice with the chicken.  [I just did a rice/gluten search, and learned that some of the additives sprayed on white rice have gluten.  Who knew?]

Here is a link to one of my favorite desserts.  It is entirely gluten free and easy to make.  It is more work to prepare the pan than it is to whisk the stuff together.  Also, I just do the chocolate melting in the microwave, a bit at a time, stirring after every heating to make sure that I don't overdo it.  [Don't stir really hot chocolate into eggs - they will cook a bit into lumps.]

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/la-b-te-noire

[blarg314]

One would be a simple chicken and tomato casserole - saute onions and garlic and mushrooms and diced celery, add canned diced tomatoes and herbs. Layer over chicken pieces, and bake. Serve with rice,  a side of steamed green beans with lemon butter, and a garden salad. You could cook it ahead and re-heat, or cool the sauce before assembling, and then bake before serving.

[workerbee]

One would be a simple chicken and tomato casserole - saute onions and garlic and mushrooms and diced celery, add canned diced tomatoes and herbs. Layer over chicken pieces, and bake. Serve with rice,  a side of steamed green beans with lemon butter, and a garden salad. You could cook it ahead and re-heat, or cool the sauce before assembling, and then bake before serving.

Thank you! I love all the suggestions, but this sounds perfect, and I have most of what we need on hand already - yay!

[cwm]

Baked apples are easy, gluten free, and delicious. You can serve them with ice cream if you want to, as well. There are tons of recipes out there, including some for the crockpot.

But the basic idea is that you take whatever number of apples you need (I use "cooking" apples like Cortland or MacIntosh).

Wash and core the apples (leaving the apple whole other than the removal of the core). Put the apples in a baking dish. Fill the cavity left by the core by lightly packing it with brown sugar on each apple. Add a small pat of butter to the top of each apple. Sprinkle with cinnamon and maybe some nutmeg. Add water to the dish until it's not quite half an inch deep. Bake until the apples are soft (350 degrees seems to work fine, 30-40 minutes). Let cool slightly and serve with cream, whipped cream, ice cream, whatever.

The nice thing is, you can prep the apples while the casserole is baking, and put the apples into the oven when the casserole comes out. Easy, delicious, and gluten free (as long as your spices are, anyway).

I've done this, but I've added whole rolled oats to the brown sugar. It's delicious!

[blarg314]

I've done this, but I've added whole rolled oats to the brown sugar. It's delicious!

Just a quick note - oats are often not guaranteed gluten free - you have to make sure that they were not processed in a facility that also processes other grains.

[VorFemme]

Not quite a casserole - but I've seen a bed of Mexican rice (Spanish Rice - basically rice cooked with tomatoes & spices - usually some green chili peppers & diced onion) set up with large shrimp that had been shelled (except for the last section of the tail); split; stuffed with a sliver of green pepper or jalepeno pepper & Montery Jack cheese; spiral wrapped in a slice of bacon; and fried in garlic butter.

The restaurant called it "Flower of the Sea" and arranged the shrimp in a manner suggestive of a flower (tails out, I think).  Sometimes "Star of the Sea" - depending on how many shrimp were being presented on how many servings of rice...

I never could get the cheese to stay neatly in the spiral wrapped shrimp, so I sprinkled grated cheese over the top of the "flower" and called it close enough. 

It was always very popular!  If I had more than one shrimp & a small spoon full of rice left after serving it, then I was amazed...