2025 Summer 1 – Friday
June 20, 2025 – by Carol in 2025, Summer 1, Seafood, Weekly Dinner
🍽️ The Menu
- Main Dish: Shrimp and Rice Casserole (made with homemade combo soup — cheddar and golden mushroom)
- Side Dish: None needed — this was a full meal in a bowl
- Embedded: Condensed Cheddar Soup, Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup, Combo Soup, Basic Cooked Rice
📸 Final Plate
🔍 About the Meal
This shrimp and rice casserole was the Friday seafood dish for Summer Week 1. It was hearty and satisfying without being heavy, thanks to the scratch-made combo soup base and the briny lift of clam broth. A few sautéed vegetables and cooked rice rounded things out, then it all got baked until hot and bubbly.
For texture, I added fried onions on top — and that’s where the fun began…
📷 Photo Journal
Prep steps included measuring rice, cooling the combo soup to a usable temperature, and sautéing the vegetables until just soft. The shrimp were added raw and cooked through during baking. Everything was layered into the casserole dish and baked for 25 minutes at 350°F.
At the table, Steve thought the fried onions were pasta shells — then pushed them off before I explained what they were. He went back and ate them, but made a good point: it all looked the same. Garnish with contrast is now on the radar.
📝 Friday Notes
- Shrimp amount (8 oz) was perfect for 2 people
- Used ½ cup of cooked stir-fry vegetables from freezer
- Rice was cooked for 8 minutes, then rested 5 minutes before mixing in butter
- Combo soup was 122°F when added to the soup
- Next time: try parsley, chives, or green onions on top for visual contrast
🎬 Behind the Scenes
Steve’s fried onion confusion was the comedic highlight of the meal. He thought they were part of the rice — not a garnish — and politely shoved them aside. The moment I told him they were for texture, he dug in. That said, beige-on-beige is not visually helpful. Lesson learned.
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