Cheeseburger Casserole

I saw this recipe for a Cheeseburger Casserole online and printed it out some time ago. I thought it sounded delicious and I knew it would be easy to make vegan. Oh my gosh! This was so good and it only takes about 15 minutes to get it ready to into the oven. Be sure to get your water on to boil for cooking the pasta, asap. We will be including this in our regular rotation!!

• 2 cups uncooked rotini pasta
• 2 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sweet onions, chopped (about 1 onion)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 package Beyond Meat Crumbles
• 1 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning
• 6 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (with juice)
• 2 1/2 cups Daiya cheddar shreds, divided
• 1/4 cup dill pickles, finely chopped, garnish

Start water to boil for cooking pasta. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside. Heat oil in nonstick skillet and add onion. Cook about 7  minutes until it's beginning to get translucent.

Add garlic and cook a minute or two.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Lean towards al dente since you'll be baking it in the oven.

Add crumbles to the onion/garlic mixture. Give it a good stir and cook until crumbles are cooked.

Add steak seasoning, ketchup, mustard, diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup of cheese and the cooked pasta. Allow to simmer about 5 minutes. stirring to combine everything well.

Pour mixture into your greased baking dish.

Top with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is melted is everything is heated through.

Garnish with dill pickle.

Enjoy!! I served this with a side salad.

Chick'n Chowder with Chipotle

I found this recipe that I made before we went vegan. It's from Cooking Light and I had written delicious on it. So, I decided to make it vegan today. It was so delicious!!! Don't be afraid to swap out ingredients and make your favorite dishes vegan!! I know it's still in the mid to high 80's in Florida and feels like 90. But it's October!!!! We need soup!! Go make this, you won't be sorry.

• 1 chipotle chile from a can of chipotle chiles, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sauce from can of chipotle chiles
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 2 carrots, chopped (1 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, (mine were small), chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspooon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 cups no chicken broth
• 1 package Gardein Meatless Chick'n Strips (slightly thawed), strips cut into thirds
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 can hominy, rinsed and drained
• 1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup plum tomato, seeded, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• lime wedges  

Heat 1/4 cup water in a large soup pan. Add chile, onion, and next 6 ingredients (through garlic); cook 7 minutes, adding more water if necessary, until onion is tender, stirring frequently.

Stir in broth. Simmer about 20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender puree the vegetables.

Stir in potatoes and hominy, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook uncovered about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Stir in chick'n pieces and coconut milk. Simmer 5 minutes until chicken is heat all the way through.

Remove from heat and stir in reserved adobe sauce, tomato, cilantro and salt. Serve with lime wedges.

Enjoy!!

Stuffed Poblanos

I love stuffed peppers. I found huge poblanos at the local market last week and this happened.

• 2 roasted poblanos*
• 1 jar salsa Verde
• 1 cup Daiya Mexican blend (or Pepper jack)
• 1-2 Field Roast Italian Sausage, quartered
• 1 cup left over rice (I had a rice medley blend)
• 2 scallions
• cilantro
• Garnishes: Sour cream, salsa, jalapenos, more cheese, shredded lettuce.

Add the sausages and scallions to a nonstick skillet and heat till the sausages get a little brown.

 Add enough salsa Verde to the bottom of your casserole dish so the peppers dont' stick.

Slice your roasted pepper from top to bottom. Then make a slit at the stem on each side so you can open up the pepper.

Gently remove the seeds and membrane, being careful not to rip the peppers.

Add a small amount of cheese to the middle of each pepper.

Mix the sausage mixture with the rice. Add a heaping amount over the cheese.

Top with another layer of cheese. And fold the sides in to cover it all.

Add the stuffed peppers to your casserole dish.

Cover the peppers with more salsa Verde.

Top peppers with more cheese. Roast in 350F oven (I use my toaster oven) for 30 minutes.

Keep an eye on them at the end to make sure you don't burn them. You nice hot, bubbly sauce.

Garnish to your liking. I added salsa, vegan sour cream and jalapenos.

Enjoy!!!
Note:
* To roast the peppers, put dry peppers under a broiler and broil until skins blister, rotate until entire pepper has been blistered. Allow to cool and then peel the skin off.

Avocado Toast

First, let me say I'm sorry for the extended absence. But, I'm back and hope to be sharing some delicious food on a steady basis. I've been seeing everyone with their Avo Toast. So, here's the version we had over the weekend. It was delicious!

• 2 slices Ezekiel bread
• 1 ripe avocado
• 3-5 cherry tomatoes
• sea salt
• hemp seeds

Toast the bread:

Mash avocado in a bowl and add 1/2 to each piece of toast.

Top with thinly sliced cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of sea salt and hemp seeds.

Enjoy!!

Chick'n & Spinach Pasta Bake

This was delicious. Get the water on for the pasta and while it's cooking get everything in a big bowl, Stir, put in casserole, bake and eat. It's that simple. This was so flavorful and yummy and it serves about 6. The yummy spinach mixed with the cream cheese and spices is almost like a spinach artichoke dip.

• 8 ounces uncooked rigatoni
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped sweet onion (about 1 medium)
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 package Morning Star Farm's Chick'n Strips, cooked according to package
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) tub of Toffuti Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1 package Daiya mozzarella shreds

Prepare rigatoni according to package directions. Meanwhile, place olive oil in a skillet and suate the onion until slightly tender.

Drain chopped spinach well. Add to a large bowl with chick'n, tomatoes, cream cheese, mozzarella and spices.

Add pasta when it's done. Stir well.

Pour into greased casserole pan.

Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 minutes more until all bubbly.

Serve with a side salad and your favorite wine.

Enjoy!!

Italian Sausage with Bell Pepper & Onions

I love Field Roast Italian Sausages. They are so flavorful and can be used so many different ways. Yesterday I decided we were going to have them in a sandwich (reminds me of fair food) with some tater tots on the side. Oh my gosh! These were amazing. They were also very quick to make. I would prefer to use a red bell pepper but the green one was all I had. Next time, red bell it will be!!!

• 2 Field Roast Italian Sausage
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced
• whole wheat hotdog buns
• yellow mustard

Saute onions 4-6 minutes until they begin to brown a little.

Add bell pepper and continue to saute about 5 more minutes.

Add sausage and turn every minute or two until they are browned on most sides.

I like to use yellow mustard, just squirt it on the bun, add sausage and veggies. Then top with more yellow mustard.

Serve with tater tots or fries.

Enjoy!!!