I subscribe to some emails that provide links to recipes that follow some theme like 'Comforting Cold Night Weekday Dinners' just for ideas, mind you. Some of the frequent recipes featured will have a title something like "Genuine Amish Casserole." But when you look at the ingredients, invariably they call for a can of cream soup. Since when do you suppose the Amish started stocking up on cream soup?

Tonight I was offended by this description:

"What a smart way to get everybody to eat their veggies! Easy Broccoli Casserole is bathed in a Cheddar Cheese and creamy mushroom soup sauce, making it a perfect side dish for any of your favorite main courses."

According to these folks, now we have to trick people into eating their vegetables by drowning them in both cheese sauce and canned cream soup. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with cream soup in recipes, and you can buy lower fat Campbell's cream soups, but let's don't pretend it's something the Amish people would make, and let's don't pretend it's as nutritious and virtuous as some nice steamed broccoli or a salad.

Here's a homemade "cream" soup mix from "The New American Diet."

Homemade "Cream" Soup Mix

2 cups powdered nonfat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup (or less) instant chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Store in an airtight container until ready to use. To substitute for one can of condensed soup: Combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1 1/4 cups cold water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Add to casserole as you would the canned product. Makes the equivalent of 9 cans of soup.

Here is a broccoli casserole from the same cookbook with this soup mix:

Broccoli with Brown Rice

2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tablespoon margarine (or butter)
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli or 2 packages chopped frozen broccoli
Equivalent of 2 cans cream soup (homemade as above) or canned
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
5 cups cooked brown rice
4 drops Tabasco sauce
1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained
4 tablespoons soft bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute the onions and celery in the margarine or butter until clear. Cook the broccoli until barely tender, and drain well. Mix in the soup and cheese. Stir in the rice, Tabasco, and water chestnuts, mixing well. Pour into a lightly oiled casserole dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake about 20 to 30 minutes, until bubbly and heated through. Makes 6 main dish servings, 12 as a side dish.

I feel a little guilty about sharing this recipe because I've already given you a broccoli rice recipe recently. One track mind, I guess.