Review: Casserole Collection
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2012
I really don't like it when a book opens to "buy my other books."  I wish authors would put those at the end, after I've had a chance to evaluate the book and see whether I want to buy more.There are very mixed messages about the purpose of the cookbook.  The introduction seems to stress casseroles as a main dish "at the end of the day," but doesn't mention the dessert and breakfast casseroles included.  Don't get me wrong - I don't have a problem with those being included, but it's not an "instant dinner" with leftovers for lunch.  The bagel recipe, for example, sounds good, but I wouldn't serve it as a dinner.  We do occasionally eat breakfast for dinner, but the breakfast and egg-based casseroles aren't what I would expect from the description.Not all of the recipes are to my taste, but that's to be expected from any cookbook, really.  It's interesting, if a bit disorienting, to have a casserole with meat, fresh vegetables, sweet potatoes, and red potatoes followed by a casserole with "cream of X" soup, boxed potato mix, two kinds of cheese, fried onions, and no veggies.  Bluntly, there are a couple of recipes here I just wouldn't consider making because there's nothing healthy about them.  Even if I did serve a salad on the side, I couldn't feel good about it.The Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with Rice has no broccoli listed in ingredients or instructions.  I didn't spot any other obvious errors, but I would always recommend reading a recipe completely and carefully before beginning to cook.This one still gets 3 stars from me because there are a couple of recipes I can use, which is why I read so many of these books - but many of them are out the window for me for one reason or another.  Before buying, check the listed recipes carefully to make sure they sound like what you're looking for and to make sure you don't have a very similar one in your collection already.