My Favorite Dish of All Time

As promised, this is the first of several recipes that were included in my family Easter last weekend...

When any holiday rolls around, I know that (for the most part) I'm not going to be helping with much of the cooking.  Dessert, yes.  Cleaning dishes, yes.  Odd jobs, yes.  Carving the turkey/ham/beef?  I don't think so.  I figure that my parents have been making holiday meals for our family for long enough now that I would be a bother in the kitchen.  Plus, they've usually done almost everything by the time I roll out of bed!

But there is one dish that I am solely and entirely responsible for on the holidays.  And to me, it is the most important dish of all.  And that dish is... my aunt Terri's Broccoli Casserole, my favorite dish in the whole world.

I know you're all like, WHAT?  That sounds DISGUSTING!  And I get where you all are coming from.  I wouldn't even TOUCH our broccoli casserole until I was well into high school.  It just sounded like something that parents would make a kid eat for punishment, like brussel sprouts or beets or liver.  (Sidenote: I have never eaten one of those things ever, so I wouldn't know if they're good or not.  Sorry.)

But for serious, everyone, this broccoli casserole is de-li-cious.  It's cheesy and onion-y and broccoli-y (in a good way) and you simply must try it.  Even my friends at school swear by it now.  So do yourself a favor and bookmark the recipe you're about to read.  It's so worth it.

Note: this is the recipe for a double batch of broccoli casserole.  But trust me, a single batch isn't even close to enough.  You'll see why at the end.

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What you'll need:

• Two 10-oz. packages of frozen chopped broccoli
• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 4 tbsp onion, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Ritz crackers

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How to make it:

The original recipe...

Note the stains on it; it gets lots of use.

1.  Cook both packages of broccoli according to directions on package.  Drain and set aside to cool.

t

This broccoli is not cool.  Hence, the steam

2.  Grease a nine-inch round casserole dish (or square, whatever you have) with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


3.  Into the casserole dish, add soup, eggs, mayo, and onion.  Make sure the onion is really finely chopped - my SlapChop comes in really handy for that part!  (Also, a little extra onion never hurt anyone).
 

I

It looks gross, I know.  But don't worry!  Trust me!

 

4.  Get out your cheese and measure it...

You could use the recommended 1 cup...

...or you could do yourself a favor and add a little extra.

Throw it right on in there.

5.  Now, it's broccoli time.  See, if you're me, you forgot what kind of broccoli to get and got cut broccoli.  If you do that, all you have to do is run a knife through the broccoli...

...and it will chop nice and easy!  Now, wasn't that simple?

Add it into the casserole pan.

I suppose you should wait until the broccoli is cooler, but it's never hurt me before.

6.  Stir, stir, stir everything together!

Doesn't that look better now?

7.  Crumble up some Ritz crackers (or other buttery crackers) and make a thin layer over the casserole.

Here's what it should look like.

How many did I use?  Well...

...about the amount that isn't in this package anymore.
(Maybe 1/3 of a sleeve?)

8.  Pop it into the oven for about 45 minutes.  It can take as much as an hour, though.

It should be brown on top and not too jiggly in the center.

This is perfect!  Time to dig in...

Oh boy.  I can't stand looking at this, it's so good.

Excuse me while I eat it now.

Remember how I said I would tell you why you always want to make a double batch of this baby?  Well, this is the reason why...

One dinner, seven people... almost ALL GONE!
It's a fight for the leftovers.

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So, there you have it.  The best recipe in the entire world, according to me.  Your friends are going to think you're really weird at first if you make it for them, but trust me, they'll thank you.  And always remember... extra cheese and onion never hurt anyone.

Stay tuned for more deeelish Easter recipes!