Cheesy chick-none and veggie casserole

Just like grandma’s casseroles. Minus the love.

There’s something nostalgic and comforting about a casserole. In fact, when it comes to the old “is there anything more American than…” question, I firmly believe that a casserole can give apple pie, baseball and debatable foreign policy a run for their money.

Me and my Gma. She was a real rad lady.

Casseroles are also some of my favorite dishes, because they’re simple to assemble, please even the stingiest of pallets, make for days of delectable leftovers, and they remind us all of our grandmother’s cozy kitchens (unless you had a rare casserole-less grandma, in which case I invite you to borrow the memory of mine).

For me, this cheesy, seitan- and veggie-full recipe achieves all the important casserole criteria — and I can assure you that it has been thoroughly omnivore tested and approved.

Final note: While the seitan works well as a hearty chicken replacement, and it’s a great source of protein and iron, you can just as easily double the amount of mushrooms and the dish will still be “nomnomnom” worthy.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 12 ounces whole wheat rotini noodles
• 1 lb of seitan
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen broccoli
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Bridget’s Nommy Good Cheeze sauce (ingredients below)
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (for some crunch, if that’s your bag)

Bridget’s Nommy Good Cheeze Sauce Ingredients

• 1 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened soy or almond milk
• 3 Tbsp vegan butter
• 3 Tbsp unbleached flour (chickpea flour is gluten free, FYIzzle)
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• Dash of cayenne pepper (recommended for those of us who enjoy a good kick in the mouth pants)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Conjure a casserole

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook and drain the pasta, then put it back in the pot and set it aside.
3. Brown the seitan in a large skillet on medium heat (add 1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil if you like), and break it up into bite-sized pieces while you’re at it.
4. Combine the sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl or food processor.
5. Transfer the sauce to the skillet, add in the veggies, mix well, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Pour the skillet contents into the pot with the noodles and mix well, then turn the whole lot out into a greased casserole dish.
7. Sprinkle on the breadcrumbs before baking uncovered for 30 minutes.
8. Allow the dish to cool before you start shoveling the yummy casserole goodness into your face hole.

Bon appetit!

Mama mia! Vegan spaghetti pie

A pie made out of spaghetti. And it’s vegan. Now you’ve seen it all.

Me and the mama.

If you could translate a hug into food, it would probably become spaghetti pie. It’s warm, comforting, familiar, simple and, like the very best embraces, noodley. (Note: I may have abnormal hug preferences).

The story of spaghetti pie begins with my mother, who I am like in most every way. We both love classic films and jet-fuel-strength black coffee. We both become apoplectic in crowded situations. And we also both have a tendency to burst into made-up-on-the-spot lyrics when frustrated. In short, we are both a little odd (and okay with it).

This is Little Lloyd Dobbler. To be fair, you’d spoil him too.

My mama does not, however, share my love of cooking.

She’s good at it, no doubt, but would just rather focus her energies in other areas, such as spoiling her dog rotten.

So when I was growing up and she did spend time in the kitchen, what resulted was usually a treat. One of my very favorite dishes was spaghetti pie, probably because it’s also a bit of an oddball. Noodles in a dessert dish? Wah?

At my mom’s genius suggestion, I devised a vegan version of this comfort food champion for all of us plant-eaters, replacing cottage cheese with crumbled tofu, swapping in vegan butter for the cow kind, and calling for egg and meat substitutes.

For the meaty part you could use chopped mushrooms, seitan, or vegan beef crumbles.

I chose to use a combination of baby bella mushrooms and diced up Tofurky Italian sausage, which I am kind of obsessed with.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Your ingredients stand at the ready.

• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 2 Tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance is uh-may-zing)
• 2 flax eggs (Dissolve 2 Tbsps ground flax seed in 1/2 cup super hot water, then set in fridge for 15 minutes to thicken)
• 1 cup drained and pressed tofu, squished through your fingers until it resembles cottage cheese
• 1 pound vegan beef substitute (I used finely diced Tofurky Italian sausage)
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese (I am a member of the Daiya cult)
• A couple shakes of Italian seasoning, if you so desire

Build a Pie

This here is your noodle crust and tofu “cheese” base.

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions and drain.
2. Mix your butter into the still-hot spaghetti until it’s all melted.
3. Stir in the flax eggs until the noodles are coated.
4. Place the mixture in a buttered 10-inch pie pan/tin, and form it into a crust-like shape.
5. Spread the crumbled tofu over the bottom of your spaghetti crust.
6. Cook up your meat replacement of choice in a skillet, along with the onions, mushrooms and peppers, over medium heat until the meat replacer is browned and the veggies are soft.
7. Add the spaghetti sauce and heat the mixture through.
8. Pour the skillet mixture into the pie pan, and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
9. Sprinkle the pie with the mozzarella cheese and some Italian seasoning, if you wish, and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melty and browning and calling your name.

That’s it! Let it cool for about 10 minutes before digging into your very own noodly hug.

Bon appetit!