
But we did have lots of "fake casseroles"- with all the same ingredients that would go in a casserole, only cooked on the stovetop, and not baked.
This tuna noodle "casserole" is a reincarnation of the tuna noodle "casserole" my sister and I used to make growing up. When we'd want to fix up a quick meal, Violet and I would take some cooked pasta, make some chicken soup from consomme, add a can of tuna and some meunster cheese and green beans or corn, and heat it up in the microwave until the cheese was melted. It was really yummy and we felt awesome that we knew how to cook something "professional" like that.
As I learned more about healthy eating, and moved to this country where meunster cheese isn't as readily available (and cheese in general is super expensive), I started making my tuna casserole by mixing tuna fish with sour cream, salt, garlic powder, and corn, and adding cooked pasta to it. And it was always a hit...
But since going gluten free and dairy free, I sadly have not been able to enjoy this favorite dish of mine.
The other day, Violet mentioned tuna casserole in conversation, and my mouth started watering! It had been so long since I had any, and I was overcome by a sudden urge to make it ASAP. No matter that I can't eat dairy or gluten, and I wouldn't be using any of the processed foods I used to put in mine... I'd figure out a solution so I could have my tuna casserole!
This recipe was a conglomeration of about a million dairy free tuna casseroles I found on the net, plus some ideas of my own... and as we always made it growing up, this tuna "casserole" isn't really a casserole because it isn't baked. But it certainly hits the spot, and was better than the tuna casserole we used to make growing up.
If you're not dairy free, feel free to use regular milk in place of the coconut milk in this recipe, and of course, use regular pasta instead of gluten free pasta if you have no need for that.