Summer Squash Casserole

Squash is one of those vegetables that is fun to grow in your home garden, but when it's harvest time, you have a million of the little gourds coming off all at once.  Panic ensues as you try to figure out what you're going to do with 50 yellow squash and 80 zucchini squash before they go bad.  You make zucchini bread, grilled squash, fried squash, zucchini brownies, zucchini salads, and squash soup until you feel like you have squash coming out of your ears.

Well, I'm about to introduce you to a recipe that will make you rethink squash.  This recipe was given to me by a friend who is an amazing cook and incredible hostess.  While I've tried a dozen squash casseroles, this is the ONLY one that I've ever really liked.  Cornbread stuffing mix is the secret ingredient that adds loads of flavor and crunch, taking this beyond your typical mushy squash casserole.

It has a very rich flavor, but I've trimmed back some of the calories by substituting chicken broth for the stick of butter and using light sour cream and reduced fat soup.  I'm not going to lie and say this is a light recipe, but you can lay your little head down at night knowing that it could have been worse.  : P

You can use any kind of bell pepper.  I like to mix red and green when I want a more festive look, but whatever is on sale will work just fine.  Also, you can use all zucchini or all yellow squash, but once again, I like the look of using both together.  Squeezing in a little extra squash won't hurt the recipe either as it is pretty foolproof.  

I hope your family will enjoy it as much as mine!

Recipe
2 Tbsp butter
1 bell pepper chopped
3/4 c white onion, chopped
1 1/2 c zucchini, sliced
1 1/2 c yellow squash, sliced
1/2 - 3/4 c chicken broth
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c reduced fat sour cream
1 (6 oz) pkg cornbread stuffing mix
Preheat oven to 300 degrees and lightly spray a medium sized casserole dish.Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add bell pepper, onion, zucchini, squash and 1/2 cup chicken broth.  Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes.  Add more broth if needed.Remove skillet from heat and stir soup, sour cream and 3/4 cup of the stuffing mix into the veggies.Pour mixture into casserole dish and sprinkle remaining stuffing mix on top.  Bake uncovered until bubbly and lightly browned on top, about 30 minutes.