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!