Sunday Brunch: Spiced Chickpea Casserole

*Adapted from a recipe at fatfreevegan.com

















INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Water + more for cooking
1 tbsp Soy Milk Powder
3 tbsp Corn Starch
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Tahini
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cayenne (or more if you like spicy)
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Dry Mustard
2 cups Potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups Chick Peas (drained and rinsed, I cooked dried ones and used the water as one of the cups of water for the sauce)
1 cup Cauliflower, chopped
1 Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a food processor, add the first 12 ingredients (up to Dry Mustard) and combine.

Add 2 tbsp water to a large pan and brown the onions (add more water as needed to prevent sticking). Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add cauliflower, potatoes, chick peas and sauce and stir until it thickens. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes.

Recipe: Spaghetti Squash Casserole

INGREDIENTS:
1 Large Spaghetti Squash (or 2 small/medium)
1 pkg 'Italian' Veggie Ground Round (or other fake burger crumble *some types of TVP will make it gluten-free)
1 Tomato, diced.
2-3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup Pasta Sauce (I use arabiatta or other simple tomato-based sauce)
3 slices Bread, torn into 1-inch chunks (slightly stale works best, can use gluten-free)
1/2 cup Flaked Nutritional Yeast
1 tbsp Oregano
2 tsp Basil

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut spaghetti squash in half length-wise and scoop out seeds. Lay skin side up on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum, add some water to prevent burning. Poke with a fork to release steam and bake for 30-40 minutes, until soft.

With about 10 minutes left on the squash, fry the ground round in a pan with the minced garlic until lightly browned (2-3 minutes). Add the tomato and stir until soft, set heat to low. Remove the squash from the oven and use a fork to pull out the 'spaghetti' strands. Add all of the strands to the pan and coat with just enough pasta sauce to mix in all ingredients, simmer for 5 minutes then pour into a casserole dish.

Using a food processor, blend together the bread, nutritional yeast and spices until it resembles bread crumbs. Spread the crumbs evenly over squash mix, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 400 for 5-10 minutes until the top is lightly browned.