Recipe: Hominy and cheese bake by Linda Marrone

Greetings from Baker, Nev., by way of Tonopah and Ely. October has always been my favorite month of the year. Things tend to slow down a little. The days are still nice and the nights are getting cooler. Makes me want to cook a little more.

We are traveling in our 19-foot travel trailer and this is the first time we’ve really been out on the road with it staying in different RV parks along the way.

One thing I know for certain when you are traveling in rural areas — it is always nice to have your own bed to sleep in, hot coffee and tea in the morning and access to some easy lunch and dinners. With my “up for most anything” husband and Macky, our dog, to keep us company, life on the road for a little while anyway is darn near perfect.

Now that the Farmers Market is over for the year we finally have some time for a couple of things we want to do. One of those is a visit to Great Basin National Park. It has been beautiful driving across the state. We are going to Elko, Mountain City and Kingston from here and then Highway 50 the rest of the way home.

I’m looking forward to buying a few more pumpkins for my porch once we get home, cooking up some pumpkin puree and definitely picking apples for a few pies and some apple-pear sauce. Now that the days are shorter and nights are cooler this recipe I’m going to share with you will go great with some grilled hamburgers or anything off the grill for that matter. Corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes are over, but hominy is always available. This is a great little side dish.

Hominy and Cheese Bake

Ingredients

2 14-ounce cans white hominy, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped green or white onion

1/2 cup fresh salsa, no juice (store bought is fine)

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 7-ounce can diced green chilies, drained

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese for topping

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl except the cheddar cheese, put them in your casserole dish and top with the cheddar cheese. Bake until flavors are blended about 30 minutes.

Linda Marrone, a longtime Carson resident, manages the 3rd & Curry Street Farmers Market and is the director of Nevada Certified Farmers Market Association.