It was Marcia's turn this week to pick out a recipe for the Sunday Slow Suppers cooking adventure. This is what Marcia had to say about choosing the casserole category for her week:
"I picked casseroles for a variety of reasons, one of them being the fact that I am a big fan of the one dish meal - raising 3 athletic children, and working, meant suppers that would serve many, and serve them quickly. As a younger cook, I learned to make enchiladas the traditional way, dipping tortillas in hot oil and then sauce, filling and rolling, etc. As a mom I switched to this dish, using the layer and stack method. It can be even quicker if you use canned enchilada sauces."
At our household, my husband is the master of filling and rolling enchiladas using canned enchilada sauce. I like the stacking version of it myself. Marcia shared a recipe for chicken and green chili casserole. At first look, surveying the butter, milk, cheese and chicken ingredients, I was thinking I could not adapt this for a vegan recipe for Lent and I was just going to delay participating in this week's Suppers until after Easter. But then, my husband and I were talking about non-dairy products available at health stores. So I went and checked out Native Sun Natural Food Market , a family owned health food store with two locations in Jacksonville. It is actually as close as Whole Foods to our place, a little further than the Fresh Market, but I am planning on shopping there more often. They have great products and friendly customer service, and they give you the option of five cents off your grocery bill or donating the five cents to a green organization if you bring your own bag. I like that. But I digress.
I bought the vegan cheddar-flavored rice cheese from there (along with other goodies) and thought that I could just adapt the milk, butter and chicken out of it. Well the outcome was very pleasing, we thoroughly enjoyed this dish. We were hesitant about the rice cheese, but it actually wasn't bad, not great either like real cheddar cheese, but a decent alternative. I just used it to top the casserole for a wetter bite, but I am actually thinking the casserole would have been just as good without it. The sauce really made this dish, and it was very moist and tasty.
Vegetable Green Chili Casserole
For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 Tbsp. corn starch
4 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup vegetable broth
Small can (8 Oz) tomato sauce
2 Tsp. salt
2 Tsp. chili powder
4 oz. can of chopped or diced green chili, drained
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
Heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute onion until golden. Dissolve the corn starch in water and add it to the onion. Stir in the vegetable broth and tomato sauce and continue to heat and stir until the sauce thickens. Stir in the salt, chili powder and green chili and cook for another minute. Add the cilantro. Taste and adjust the heat of the sauce to your liking. Set aside.
For the Casserole
2 zucchinis, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 can of black beans, I used onion and black bean can that's been sitting in my pantry for a while.
12 corn tortillas
1.5 cups of cheese, shredded.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix the bean and diced vegetables in a bowl. Add a bit of the sauce to the mixture. And place about half of the mixture to a nine-inch casserole dish. Layer the vegetables with corn tortillas and then sauce. Layer with vegetables and repeat the process ending with sauce. Top with some shredded cheese and bake in the oven until bubbly, for about 20 to 25 minutes.
(The rice cheese didn't melt like real cheese does.)
Remove from oven and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before you cut and serve.
It was delicious, thanks Marcia. I can't wait to try the chicken version.
Comments (1)
Great job adapting this. It looks really good!
Posted by Annie | March 8, 2010 11:06 AM
Posted on March 8, 2010 11:06