Adventures in Cooking (Frugally!)

So, last night, Eric and I went up to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, including some things off of WIC. Well, if you have ever been on WIC (at least somewhat recently) you'll know that you get 5 6oz. cans of tuna a month. Well, we like tuna around here, I will often make tuna salad sanwiches for us for lunch and I love that it has a good amount of Omega-3 to help those brains of ours! But well, every so often, I get bored of tuna salad, and so, the tuna has stacked up a bit. So last night I went googling for a recipe that I had the ingredients for that wouldn't be too hard to make that used canned tuna. Here's what I found.

Tuna Rice Puff Caserole

Ingredients:
2/3 Cup Uncooked Rice (I used white, but that's what I had on hand, I would have used brown if I had it)
1 1/3 Cup water (I had to use a little more, as I always do when cooking rice)

2 Eggs, seperated
1/3 Cup Butter (I used margarine)
1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Water
3 6oz. Cans Tuna, 2 undrained, one drained
1/4 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Teaspoon Lemon Pepper (or to taste)
1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder (or to taste)

Cook rice as you normally would. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs whites until foamy and forming sharp peaks that hold their shape; Set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and stir until mixture becomes paste-like and golden brown. Gradually whisk in milk and water until smooth. Add seasonings. Simmer for 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in broken eggs yolks and cook for another 2 mintues. Remove from heat and combine milk mixture, rice, onion, and tuna. Gently fold in egg whites until evenly blended. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and bake in oven until center is set and top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Casserole will puff slightly.

This was a big hit. I just served it with a nice salad on the side and it was great. Really yummy, and this will feed our family a second night! Not too shabby for a recipe that I found looking around and had all the ingredients on hand!