Healthy tuna casserole

I was never a casserole person, in fact I have not made a casserole in 6 years. Once I left home as a teen I have pretty much stayed away from them since casseroles when I was growing up  were usually hamburger helper.

Tuna casserole was never on my list of foods to make but when groceries were running low and I was craving comfort food I decided to finally give this as try. I didn’t want something heavy  and buttery so I decided to experiment with Greek yogurt and the result was a yummy, creamy  and light tuna casserole .

This was a really nice lunch on this gloomy rainy day and a definite kid favorite. I think the quality of the tuna really helped make this dish so be sure to use high quality tuna when making your casserole.

What you need

• 1.5 c whole wheat pasta ( 3 c cooked)
•  1/2 c sour cream, I love Nancys 
• 1 C Greek yogurt – again Nancy’s is where it’s at
• 1 c cheese, I used an asiago/white cheddar blend
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 cans of  Tuna, I used Vital Choice sustainably caught tuna
• 1.5 c fresh peas ( or frozen)
• 1 c whole wheat panko
• salt & paprika

How to make it

• Preheat oven to 300
• cook pasta in salted water, drain and sit aside
• in a bowl mix mustard, yogurt, sour cream and cheese
• add tuna and peas and mix
• salt to taste
• mix in pasta
• spread into a 9×9 baking pan
• top with panko , paprika and sprinkle with salt
• bake for about 20 minutes
• enjoy!

Beet & potato salad with Greek yogurt dressing

I was on a picnic yesterday and my friend Kristin was listing off all the ingredients she needed to get for potato salad and before I knew it I was drooling. I love any southern comfort food but potato salad is my weakness. I have already given up hope that I will ever be able to make potato salad as good as my dads so I decided to come up with my own recipe.

I wanted to add beets to my potato salad  mostly so I could have beet juice to dye some Easter eggs but also because ( if you haven’t noticed) I have a beet obsession.  I didn’t quite think about the fact that the beets would turn the potato salad all the same shade of pink and was a bit disappointed when it looked a bit… homogeneous.

Despite the  bright pink color of this potato & beet salad  it was quite yummy and there was not single drop of  leftovers. It looks like this will be a recipe to go in my “family favorites” folder!

What you need

• 5 red potatoes
• 2 beets
• 1/5 c Greek yogurt, I used Nancy’s Greek yogurt
• 1/4 lemon juice
• 1/2 red onion
• 3 stalks of celery
• 2 tbsp dried or fresh dill
• 1 tbsp paprika
• salt to taste

How to make it

• In separate pots boil the beets and potatoes
• while those are cooking in a large bowl add yogurt, lemon juice, onion, celery, dill  and salt to taste
• drain potatoe and beet, rinse beets with water and drain again
• add potatoes to dressing and gently mix
• add beets and mix again
• sprinkle with paprika and more salt if needed
• cover and put in the fridge for an hour to cool or serve warm