Also, my reading list now has four new books - all of which have been on my wishlist but that I haven't gotten around to even buying, much less, reading. (Hint, hint - there's a good list of things you can gift me. But I'm only reading electronically now, so if you're feeling kindly towards me, mail me and we shall talk, yeah?)
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Onto the food.
As I've said elsewhere on this blog, in this, my new life, I can no longer tolerate dairy. Or eggs. As in physically tolerate.
And anybody with any diet restrictions knows how many billion times more challenging eating out becomes. No, I swear I'm not being dramatic. For instance, a few weeks ago, I was craving a pizza. But the only pizza place with a non-dairy cheese option is twenty miles away. So, I ended up ordering a thin crust veggie pizza without cheese - without any cheese.
I assure you that that is really about as fun as it sounds.
After much eye rolling and carping, I finished my sad excuse for a pizza.
But I have since, been cooking vegan or at least dairy free things with a vengeance. (Yes, that was me dining the happybeardance at the Fresh Foods near the daiya and veganaise). I've been following post-punk kitchen, avidly stalking vegan boards on Pinterest and hounding people for recipes that I can use, try, adapt.
Today's recipe belongs to the 'kindly loaned' category and comes from a very dear friend's mother. When I ate this delicious and wholesome cheesy vegetable casserole for the very first time, my exposure to non-Indian tasting food was limited to my Mama's vegetarian French Toast and her espresso*, reserved for special occasions (like exam stress, or a mild fever). And yet, surprisingly, novelty notwithstanding, this casserole was instantly comforting.
Small wonder then that I've been craving it lately (amidst stressful life events etc). The Witch, my dear friend, came through beautifully and got the recipe from her mum for me. The recipe is simple enough to suggest itself. But most of all, I love that it is so flexible - allergic to dairy? Replace with non dairy cheeses. Hate mushrooms? Throw them out and replace with carrots and peas. More body? Throw in some penne pasta...you get the drift. I'm reading it as a cosmic, edible reminder ti stay loose.
While the process remains the same as the original, my version replaces several of the original ingredients.
To make this casserole, I used:
Mushrooms - 16 oz (I used sliced baby portobellos)
Green Beans - (I eyeballed this)
Garlic paste - 1 tsp (or minced garlic, 2/3 pods)
Olive oil - 1 tsps
Daiya mozarella style shreds
For the white sauce:
Unflavored Almond milk - 1 cup
White Whole Wheat flour - 1 tbsp
Melt (the butter substitute) - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oregano or dried Italian herb seasoning - to taste
Preheat your oven to 350 F (around 200C).
Roast the flour in the butter / buttery spread over medium heat. Make sure the raw smell disappears completely. This will mean browning the flour a bit, but make sure not to burn the damn thing.
Set aside to cool.
While that's cooling off, slice up the mushrooms and cut the beans. Heat a pan, add the olive oil and stir in the garlic. Throw in the mushrooms and beans and let them cook together until the beans get tender.
While you're waiting for that to get done, go back to the white sauce. Stir in the milk into the roasted flour. Make sure there are no lumps.
Add in the salt and seasonings.
Grease up your baking dish and toss in the veggies. Pour the sauce over the veggies.
I chose to stir the mix, but I imagine if you were using a shallow-ish pan, this might be unnecessary.
Top off with the grated cheese. My pre-baked mix looked like the first picture below.
Bake until the cheese browns, around 25 minutes.
Daiya doesn't quite brown like regular cheese, so what I ended up with, was a melty cheesy top layer, which worked just fine for me.
Yep. I had to take a bite before I remembered to take the second picture.
I served this up as a side for spaghetti tossed in tomato-basil-garlic sauce. And it was totally awesomesauce. Because the sauce is awesome.
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*as an adult, I now realize that her espresso was really a way of getting me to down a lot of milk with a little coffee thrown in for flavor. Oh well, memories.
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