casserole | Life Healthfully Lived

I don’t know if you remember, but a few weeks back I mentioned that I was going to start writing a health column for a magazine. Well my first article was published in the Nov/Dec issue that came out at the beginning of the month. It’s pretty exciting to see my name in the byline and see my recipes in a magazine. One of my recipes was even made the cover shot, so that was pretty awesome! The other recipe that I put out was this one. I wanted to make a dish that would be easy to make and bring to holiday gatherings. This is dairy, soy, meat, and gluten-free so it is a good dish to serve if you have guests over who have and food issues. It’s also a great dish to make ahead and then just warm up in the oven before you serve. I brought it to Thanksgiving in Indiana yesterday and I’ll be bringing it to my second Thanksgiving on Saturday. I hope that you all had a great day and if you are just getting back from black Friday shopping, I hope you get a nice big nap!

Stuffing Casserole

Polenta Layer

1 cup cornmeal
3 cups water
1-2 tsp salt
3 tsp Italian seasoning

Cashew Cream Layer

1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 30 minutes
1/2 cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Stuffing Layer

1 cup walnuts (can also use cashews or pecans but walnuts work best)
8 oz package of mushrooms
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste.

1. Start with your polenta. Bring 3 cups of water and salt to a boil. Whisk in the 1 cup of cornmeal and cook on low until the polenta is nice and thick and starting to pull away from the sides of the pot. Stir in the Italian seasonings and pour into an oiled casserole dish. Place in the fridge while you make the rest of your layers

2. Place your soaked and rinsed cashews into a blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Set aside.

3. Place walnuts and mushrooms into a food processor and pulse until mixture is crumbly. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat and saute onions, celery, and garlic for 5 to 7 minutes until soft. Add in the mushroom walnut mixture and seasonings and cook for about 10 minutes until the mixture starts to brown a little.

4. Get your casserole dish out of the fridge and make sure the polenta is set. Spread a thick layer of the cashew cream over the polenta, making sure it’s covered. Then spread the mushroom.walnut mixture over the cream. If you’re going to eat it right away, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Otherwise when you’re ready to eat, place in oven at 350 for 25 minutes uncovered. Slice and enjoy!

Look at those yummy layers!

This also makes a really good breakfast dish if you have to feed a crowd. Whenever you eat it, it’s sure to please! I hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend and see you on Monday!

I had the hardest time thinking up a name for this dish. I had the idea of making a lasagna type dinner, but without the noodles. I toyed with the idea of naming it noodleless lasagna, but that just sounded weird. I finally settled on chickpea casserole, even though it’s not exactly what it is. I know, first world problems right? Oh well, regardless of what this meal is called, it is delicious. We devoured it all and quickly wanted more. It makes fabulous leftovers and it is a great prepare ahead meal so that come dinnertime all you have to do is heat it up in the oven. Simple and delicious, what more could you want?

Chickpea Casserole

For the chickpea layer:

3 cups chickpeas, soaked/rinsed/cooked (you could also use 2 cans of chickpeas, but I liked dried better)
3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, depending on how “cheesy” you want it to taste
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp italian seasonings
salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:

1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
1 to 2 tsp fennel seeds
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
salt to taste

Make your sauce first. In a medium saucepan, heat a little olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for about 5 to 7 minutes. Once the onion is soft add in the oregano, basil, and fennel seeds. Stir to combine everything and then add in the tomatoes. Depending on how thick or thin you want your sauce, add in a little bit of the broth at a time. Bring the sauce to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan halfway with a lid and simmer while you make the chickpea layer.
Preheat the oven to 400 and put the chickpeas into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times to break them up. Add in the rest of the ingredients and process until it is all combined and creamy. If it is too dry you can add in a few tablespoons of water or broth.
Lightly oil a casserole pan and spread the chickpea mixture into the bottom. Press the chickpeas down and make sure that there are no cracks. Then pour the sauce over the top and cover the chickpeas. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for another 5 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly. Take out of the oven and let sit for 5 minutes and then cut and serve.

After you assemble the casserole, you can keep it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. Then simply heat up the oven and pop the casserole in. This would be a really good meal to take to a potluck or share with a big group of people. You can easily double it and feed a crowd. And I’m pretty sure they will gobble it up and ask for seconds! Or maybe that’s just me…. Enjoy!

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