casserole Archives

I’ve been admiring others’ perfect veggie noodles/spirals a lot lately. Like a lot, a lot. Enough to order another gadget that will undoubtedly crowd my cabinets to the point of kitchen avalanche.

But after my first spiralizing experience, I have a feeling that this tool will be used often enough to stay front and center. It may even find a permanent place next to the Blendtec that’s used almost daily. Seriously.

It is unlikely that I’ll go all out with recipes like the one pictured in this post {Inspiralized’s Baked Zucchini Pasta with Pancetta, Olives and Broccoli} on the regular. But I would like to have a stock of simple zucchini noodle {or other vegetable noodle} dishes that I rotate throughout the week.

But if you’re looking for a gluten-free, dairy-free comfort food casserole, this recipe {using coconut oil in place of olive oil and macadamia nut ricotta in place of milk ricotta} is the way to go. Topped with an egg, I bet it would become an extra delicious breakfast dish as well.

Weekends are for baking, Mondays are for veggies. I had to remind myself of this constantly tonight to resist the urge to reclaim the pie I left with the boys on Saturday.

I distracted myself by heading to the market and loading up on lots of produce to vegify an already vegiful dish.

FoodFash Mexican Polenta Casserole (yields 8 servings)

Adapted from this Eating Well recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 poblano peppers, chopped

1 zucchini, shredded

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups of frozen chopped spinach

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound ready made polenta

1-1/2 cups enchilada sauce

top with Greek yogurt, sour cream, or non-dairy sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and poblano peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shredded zucchini, tomatoes, beans, spinach, cumin, and salt. Let cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Slice polenta into 1/4″ thick slices (you’ll need about 24 slices). Layer the bottom of 8×11-ish pan with 1/3 of the polenta slices. Top with half of the veggies and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and repeat. Top the casserole with the last 1/2 of the polenta slices and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce. Bake for 30 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take me a second to adjust my palate to eating a mostly dairy free meal again. But by the time I was a few bites in (and I forgot about this weekend’s peanut butter pie and cheesy Mexican feasts) I began to appreciate my meal. It reminded me of a hearty, polenta topped, stew – a perfect dinner for a thunderstormy eve!