For a long, long time, Family Favorite was my favorite food.

Family Favorite is a treasured casserole that can be made with or without meat.

This batch of Family Favorite has a special place in my heart.

Family Favorite is a magic casserole

As a kid, I couldn’t imagine a better option on the dinner menu. On our birthdays, my sister and I got to pick our meals, and it was Family Favorite every time.

In college, a double batch would tide me and my roommates over for days. (It was also the perfect dietary complement to hangovers.)

After I moved to New York, Family Favorite was a familiar comfort when everything else felt hard.

For multiple decades, this very basic, extremely satisfying casserole had a starring role in my kitchen.

But until recently, I hadn’t made it for myself in many, many months.

I made some false assumptions about Family Favorite

In the past few years I have gotten much better about taking care of my body.

I don’t drink alcohol or do drugs; I try to avoid sugar and I rarely consume even diet soda.

On the whole, I lean toward protein over carbs, greens and nuts over dairy—though I definitely eat all of the above.

Assumption #1

I assumed Family Favorite was unhealthy.

When I cook, I try to make food that is unquestionably nourishing.

And since Family Favorite has a primary foundation of mac ’n’ cheese + cream of mushroom soup, I assumed it was not acceptably nourishing.

Assumption #2

I assumed Family Favorite had to be made with meat.

I am effectively vegetarian. (Meaning I’m not willing to say I’ll never eat meat again, but also that I haven’t sought it out in months and don’t plan to anytime soon.)

And since Family Favorite is made with meat, I assumed it was off the menu.

Sometimes it is so great to be wrong

However, the lure of Family Favorite is strong.

My sister had a baby a few months ago, and when I was visiting to help out, I prepared a few batches of our classic standby so that she could have easy access to some frozen meals.

As I did so, I felt such nostalgia for my once-beloved dish.

If only there was a way to make it meatless!

IF ONLY, INDEED.

When I returned to New York, I got creative: I had a package of Trader Joe’s soy chorizo in my fridge, which, I mean, even in the best of times I never tried making Family Favorite with spicy sausage, but what did I have to lose?

Turns out, I had everything to gain.

Family Favorite can be meatless

To be clear, Family Favorite when made with spicy soy chorizo tastes nothing like Family Favorite.

But it DOES taste AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.

So I actually gave that casserole a new name: Queso Casserole. And I miiiiight even prefer Queso Casserole to Family Favorite, but that’s not the point.

The point is that experimenting led to me to explore additional non-meat options, such as TJ’s “beef-less ground beef.”

I confess to having previously held a grudge against fake meats.

Typically, I’d rather stick with straight-up tofu than pretend my tofu is ground beef, or, like, vegetarian duck.

(Because I mean really, how can duck be vegetarian? It’s DUCK! Looking at you, local Thai place.)

However, consider me converted.

Because, thanks to beef-less ground beef, I can now enjoy a veggie version of Family Favorite with flavors and textures that acceptably approximate what I have cherished from childhood.

Family Favorite can be nourishing

I cannot in good conscience go so far as to say that Family Favorite qualifies as healthy.

Its contents, meatless or no, are still predominantly processed and carbohydratic. (<–new word ftw)

However, nourishment entails more than nutrition.

And when integrated into a balanced diet, the addition of comfort casserole is hardly problematic.

Or if it is, too bad.

Because I’m definitely in a phase where I eat it almost every day.

Green smoothie for breakfast, Fam Fave for lunch, and then a light dinner…it’s working for me.

I’m feeling nourished, and when that is no longer the case, I’ll do something different.

Here is the recipe for Family Favorite

I am truly grateful for this simple casserole that has survived so many adaptations and transitions.

For a long time it felt like a family secret, but it’s totally not.

I think my mom got the recipe from, like, a women’s magazine in the 1980s.

In any case, I’d like to share it with you, in case you might find comparable appreciation of its contents.

Ingredients

1 pound(ish) of ground meat/fake meat

1 large green pepper (or red or orange or yellow, knock yourself out)

1 medium onion (or half of a large onion)

1 box of mac ’n’ cheese

A little bit of milk and/or butter to make the mac ’n’ cheese

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (NOT the roasted garlic kind. Trust me on this.)

Directions

Put water on to boil for the mac ’n’ cheese.

Chop up the onion and the pepper.

If you’re using real meat, brown it in a skillet, then drain it (or not, if you really want to up your fat intake).

Saute the onion and pepper. You can do this in the same pan as the meat. (I like to put the onion in first so that the pepper doesn’t get overcooked.)

If you’re using fake meat, add it after the vegetables have been lightly cooked. It doesn’t even need to get warm, just stirred up.

Make the mac ’n’ cheese.

Spread the prepared mac ’n’ cheese into a casserole dish.

Spread a layer of cream of mushroom soup on top.

Add the mix of veggies and meat/fake meat.

Stir it all together verrrrrry carefully.

Bake for 25ish minutes at 350˚. It’s done when the whole thing’s hot and the top is browned.

Enjoy for days! (It makes great leftovers and also freezes well.)

In conclusion, food is either medicine or poison

In my experience, the effects of what I eat often depend on how (much) I consume it and why.

And this #thankyouthursday, I am grateful to have Family Favorite back in my life—in all the good ways, for all the right reasons.

Love > fear,

Christina