When my husband and I first started dating, we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding. During a scene that showed one of Toula’s large, loud extended family gatherings, I said, “That’s what my family’s holidays are like.” When it flashed to one of Ian’s small, stiff family meals, Dan said, “That’s what my family holidays are like.” Oof.
Both my mom’s and dad’s sides of the family are close-knit. We always spent Christmas with my dad’s side of the family. Dozens of us gathered at one of my aunt and uncle’s modest suburban Detroit homes, digging into an eclectic spread of Lebanese and Polish food. Although my mom’s side of the family was smaller, the food was still plentiful. Our Christmas Eve feast always featured my Uncle George’s ham lacquered with his special glaze made with Vernors ginger ale. And my Aunt Laurie or my mom always made Cheesy Potato Casserole.
Oh, cheesy potato casserole—you are so delicious. I know many people serve a version of this at their holiday celebrations. I’ve had iterations of it made with hash browns, others with frozen diced potatoes. A common thread, though, is that most of them are made with canned soup, butter and sour cream, with a golden crown of crunchy potato chips (Better Made, if you’re from Detroit like me). That means each serving is loaded with saturated fat and sodium. While the casserole is downright delicious, my family is managing health conditions like type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, so I wanted to take a stab at reducing the saturated fat and sodium.
I made a quick and easy white sauce and thickened it up with strained yogurt, yielding the same rich, tangy flavor but with less saturated fat. To mimic the crunchy topping, I used unsweetened cornflakes and was surprised at how delicious it was. Not only is the cereal lower in sodium than potato chips, but it also adds a more complex flavor to the whole dish.
After I crafted my version several years ago, I asked if I could bring my revised version to Christmas Eve. I didn’t tell anyone about the changes I made to it; I wanted to see if they could tell. The casserole filling was still rich and creamy, but surprisingly, everyone liked it better with the cornflakes instead of the chips. One of my cousins noted that since so much of the rest of our meal was pretty salty (hello, ham!), the cornflakes balanced the overall flavors of the meal better.
Now that I’m an adult, I don’t spend every Christmas Eve with my cousins like I used to. And even though Uncle George’s ham isn’t on my dinner table (I hope he’ll share the recipe with me one year!), my family’s updated cheesy potato casserole is.
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