Cheeseburger casserole (V, GF)

Recipe & Photos by Megan Stulberg

I created this cheeseburger casserole low key by accident, shhh. I was invited to a vegan potluck hosted by a friend and when I was asked what to bring, they said “burgers or something”. Being the plant-based Celiac disaster that I am, there was NO way I was going to get like, 30 gluten-free buns. So I found an alternative with a similar taste that’d be easier to divide amongst guests.

Ingredients:

• 2 standard-sized boxes/approx 2 cups uncooked gluten-free pasta of your choice (I used rotini)
• 2 bags Beyond Meat beefy crumble
• 1 bag Daiya Cheddar style shreds 
• 2 tomatoes, coarsely diced
• 2 cups raw kale
• 1/4 cup dill pickles, finely diced
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and set a large pot of water to boil on stovetop.
2. Cook pasta in boiling water until done al dente style (pasta should be a bit harder than usual, since it will be cooking more in the oven soon). Rinse with cold water and drain well.
3. In large skillet, heat 1 tbsp EVOO over medium heat. Add the beefy crumble, then add the garlic, salt and pepper. Saute until cooked through and dark brown in color. Add kale and tomatoes, and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Stir in mustard, then remove from heat.
4. Toss beefy crumble mixture with pasta in large bowl. Mix in handful of cheddar style shreds and diced pickles. I also added some extra mustard here for a more cheeseburgery flavor, but it’s up to you.
5. Use 1 tbsp EVOO to coat bottom and sides of standard baking/casserole dish (roughly 9×13 inches) to prevent sticking. Spread pasta into prepared dish and top with the remaining cheddar style shreds.
6. Cook in oven about 15 minutes or until cheddar shreds have melted.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the diced pickles on top, and you’re ready to serve!

Serve hot. Makes approximately 6 meal sized servings or 12 side dish servings.

 

 

 

Tomato Glaze-Crusted “Meat”loaf Casserole

Post by Megan Stulberg

I’ve been working like a crazy person lately, hence the delay in writing up recipe posts. But hey, a girl’s got to eat! If there’s a silver lining from this, it’s just that I have tons of recipes up my sleeve for y’all in the near future.

This was my Christmas day feast, yum yum. Being the only vegan in a family of carnivores is both good and bad. The bad is that they don’t want to eat the food I make, the good is…more for me! I ended up eating leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Boxing Day. Not a single regret.

I paired this dish with my sweet potato mash that’s already up on Vegan Girlfriend here, as well as some roasted asparagus! I also paired it with a gravy/stuffing hybrid that I’ve nicknamed “gruffing” that was oh-so-good but honestly was an accident so I don’t have a write-up for that.

Ingredients…

For the loaf: 

• 1 1/4 cup gluten-free vegetable broth
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup canned lentils
• 1/4 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup roasted nuts of your choice (I chose walnut)
• 1/4 cup 100% maple syrup
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 3 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp basil
• Cracked pepper and sea salt, to taste

For the glaze: 

• 1/2 cup organic ketchup (or tomato paste)
• 1/4 cup 100% maple syrup
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions…

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Rinse canned lentils. Set aside.
3. Heat olive oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Once oil begins to sizzle, add garlic and onion. Sauté 5 minutes until brown, then add carrot, celery and mushrooms. Add broth at this point.
4. Use a high-speed blender or food processor to chop toasted nuts into small pieces.
5. Add sautéed veggies to blender, along with rice flour, flax, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, thyme, basil, sea salt, pepper and of course, the lentils! Pulse until coarsely combined. If the mixture needs to be thickened, add additional brown rice flour by the tbsp and combine by hand. Be careful not to over-process, you want some chunks of veggies and stuff to stay intact for texture.
6. Coat casserole dish with olive oil to prevent sticking. Use large spoon to transfer mixture from food processor to casserole dish, then flatten out.
7. Bake casserole dish in oven for a total of 40 minutes.
8. During this time, make the glaze! Simply whisk organic ketchup, maple syrup and sea salt together in bowl.
9. Remove casserole dish from oven after 15 minutes, add glaze in a thin layer on top, then place back in oven covered and let bake for remaining 30 minutes.
10. Wait for dish to cool, then slice and serve with side dishes accordingly.

Dig in! Serve warm, makes 4-6 servings.