the good ol' go-to

If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

...but go ahead and enhance it if you can.

Like most normal people, some days I'm completely unmotivated and uninspired, even in the kitchen. On days like that, it's good to have a dish that you can make quickly and with your eyes closed, ideally with items you always have on hand. For me, that dish is chicken noodle casserole. The ingredients--chicken, condensed soup, sour cream, maybe some herbs, egg noodles, crackers, and butter--are things I usually keep around, so when I can't come up with something unique and fancy to prepare, casserole it is. Fortunately, it's actually really tasty, and if you use reduced-fat sour cream and soup, it doesn't have to be terrible for you either.

This time around, to make it even less guilt-inducing and because I just love the pop of peas, I tossed about a cup into the filling. It was an excellent decision. You can apply other twists, like varying what flavor of condensed soup you use (I often eschew cream of mushroom because I abhor the flavor of mushrooms in any capacity) or by using yogurt (preferably Greek) in lieu of sour cream. You can make your own condensed soup, too, if you'd prefer. I've added corn in the past, as well as other pot-pie-type fillings. While my cracker of choice is buttery round (read: Ritz), bread crumbs laced with Parmesan cheese and herbs has worked before. I've never actually tried a pasta shape other than egg noodles, but I can't imagine you'd have trouble with any substitution. Just make sure you get the pasta done to at least al dente or else it'll suck up the moisture in your casserole and leave you with a dry, pasty mess. Nobody wants that.