With the arrival of the holiday season, most of us are looking for quick and easy side dishes to serve at our holiday dinners. The following Crunchy Broccoli Bake is perfect. Not only can it be made ahead (up to a day or so) and refrigerated, but it is creamy, crunchy, and scrumptious - it will be immediately devoured. This vegetable bake goes will with almost anything - turkey, ham, roast beef, etc.

Although there are food snobs out there who refuse to use convenience foods like canned soup, the joke's on them, since once served, no one will know that canned soup is one of the ingredients and the time savings is significant. The dry onion soup mix adds flavor, and the entire dish, because of the convenience foods, takes only about 15-20 minutes to put together. If you are really in a hurry, you can use two 16-ounce packages of frozen broccoli florets (although there is something special about the taste of fresh, and you can get packages at warehouse stores that are cut and ready for blanching).

Serving this Crunchy Broccoli Bake is a nice change from that ubiquitous green bean casserole, and guests and family will love it.

12 Servings

2 to 3 pounds fresh broccoli florets
Boiling salted water (1 tablespoon salt in a large pan keeps the bright green color of the broccoli)

2 10 3/4 ounce cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups sour cream
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided

5 ounces cheese and garlic croutons, coarsely crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350?.
2. Spray a 9" x 13" shallow baking dish with non-stick spray.
3. Blanch the broccoli for one minute in the boiling, salted water.
4. Drain well and transfer to the prepared baking dish.
5. Mix the soup, sour cream, onion soup mix, and two cups of the cheese; spread over the broccoli.
6. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, and scatter the croutons evenly over the cheese.
7. Bake about 30 minutes or until bubbly. If made ahead and refrigerated, it may take a few minutes longer to heat.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 319 Calories from Fat 209
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 66% Protein 16% Carb. 19%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 23 g
Saturated Fat 10 g
Cholesterol 46 mg
Sodium 981 mg
Total Carbohydrate 15 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 13 g

Vitamin A 33% Vitamin C 119% Calcium 0% Iron 6%