Meatless...Thursdays? (Potato/Veg Casserole)

As the title states: We missed Meatless Mondays this week. We don't eat meat every single day, but we mostly do. We are making an effort to, like so many others are doing, to set aside a day a week (if there are more - great!) to ensure we don't eat meat.

It didn't happen on Monday this week, but it did happen tonight: Thursday. And that's okay.

After seeing some various forms of casseroles on blogs this week, I was craving something but I didn't quite know what. My friend, Sarah, had this easy and great idea of throwing some veg in with quinoa and balsamic and topping it all off with breadcrumbs. Possibly adding in some tomato paste. Although that sounds delicious, I'll save that for another winter day.

I don't know if it was the storm that today was calling for (and we're currently experiencing), but I was craving a hearty mashed potato type meal. To Google I went and adapted the recipe found on the Vegan Family Mains page. They call this a Creamy Vegetable Bake. I'm calling it a Potato/Veg Casserole. Not the most inventive name ever, but it will do. It paints the necessary picture, doesn't it?

If I called it some super duper awesome, secret code kind of name, how would anyone ever find it?

Potato/Veg Casserole
Original Recipe

Ingredients
4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut in four
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
~1 leek (I didn't use the whole leek), chopped
2 1/2 celery sticks, chopped
3/4 cup of mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp of margarine
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 cups of Unsweetened rice milk (plus a little bit more)
Vegetable Bouillon (I used 2 packets, use enough for cover 2 cups of liquid)
Italian Seasonings
Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds (have you tried these yet? Amazing! Dairy and soy free..)

What I Did:
1. Once the potatoes are prepared, add them to a pot with water. Boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, until they are mash-able.
2. While the above is happening....In another pot, melt 1 tbsp of margarine and the bouillon in with all of the vegetables. Stir for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the flour and gradually add milk in with the vegetables. Stir to make sure everything is well mixed! When it's thickened up a wee bit, pour it into a 9x9 dish.
4. Mash the potatoes with your Italian seasonings, a bit of milk and the Daiya. Place them on top of the liquid mixture. I did not do a lot of potatoes like the original recipe. I also didn't treat this like a shepherd's pie. I simply plopped clumps of potato on top!
5. Place in the oven for 20 minutes on 400. After the 20 minutes, I turned the oven down to 200 and left it in until we were ready to eat.

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It's a hit! I thought it wouldn't be as filling as it needed to be for J, but it was...and it was devoured! Woot Woot.

Hey! I've got 98 followers on Twitter now... are you one of them? If not, you could get me to 100! :) 


Thanks for all of the support from those who are reading, commenting and/or following - and a special thanks to the few of you who are making me get my butt up to do something...even if it's just for a squat or two. :)