cowboy bean casserole

Food Network Friday

That's right! It is that time of month again - Food Network Friday with Tami Noyes of American Vegan Kitchen.

This time around, my cohorts chose an Emeril dish to replicate: Cowboy Chicken Casserole.    It is abundantly clear that as daring as some of those Celebrity Chefs are by concocting some of these creations, we are even more so because we choose to make them. Hats down to Liz for giving this one a go. It would have slipped right under my radar.

This amazing collection of ingredients features poached chicken over tortilla chips covered by a homemade-style cream of mushroom soup, accented with a pound of cheese. Oh, and let's not ignore the six tablespoons of Paula-inspired butter. All that and some onions, peppers and tomatoes.

Wow.

Where ever shall I begin? 

The chicken was the most thought-provoking. I didn't want to use seitan, but I wanted to keep the integrity of the dish so I used what all cowboys use: pinto beans. I thought of using tortillas instead of the chips, but when I noticed that the recipe calls for an entire bag of chips, I thought better of it; maybe there was a method to the madness here.

Good call on that one; the chips were appropriate. 

Result: Odd. However, as odd as it was, it was also strangely addictive.

 Is that odder still?

Cost Breakdown

tortilla chips: $3 

beans: $4

Daiya: $4.50

onion, pepper, tomato: $3

mushrooms: $2 

Total to make 8 servings:

$16.50