Vegetable Casserole

While at work yesterday I had an intense craving for pineapple fried rice. I convinced myself however that I couldn't eat the rice because I already had rice that day, and two rice meals in a row would equal carb overload. I looked through some of my vegan blogs and found a recipe for carrot, sweet potato and coconut casserole from Musings from the Fishbowl. Her blog is super awesome, fyi.

So, she thought the picture looked unappealing, but I thought it looked great and decided that I wanted that. The problem is the cooktime was going to take an estimated hour, and after work on Wednesday I work out and don't often get home until 9pm. I decided to do it anyway because the impending snow would mean getting home on Thursday would suck, and it would be nice

to have a comfortable dinner waiting for me.

So after working out, I headed to the grocery store. The safeway in Waldorf has a surprisingly okay section of vegan/organic options. No Trader Joes or Whole Foods, but not bad. Plus, I found this:

Bamba! I first had this while hanging out with some friends and they always said you could only get it overseas. Super happy to find it. If you like peanut butter, you'll like Bamba, so go try it.

What I didn't find were parsnips needed for the recipe. I got fingerling potatoes, and just added a couple more to make up for the lack of parsnips, but it totally could have done better with them.

I didn't get home until 930pm, so dinner went in at 945pm. It cooked until 11:15 when the carrots just wouldn't get tender. Maybe I didn't have them small enough. My mom, the brilliant mother she is, said to finish it in the crock pot, so I did. It cooked on high for another hour or two, and she turned it off so I could go to bed. Good thing I had Bamba. That and mushrooms became and equally satisfying dinner and this casserole made an excellent lunch on a snowy day.

Carrot, Sweet Potato and Coconut Casserole

(posting the recipe from Shellyfish as she made it up, then in parenthesis are my edits. All credit goes to her.)

530 grams/18.5 ounces cooked garbanzo beans (I used 1 can, rinsed)

1 red onion, diced

2 to 4 cloves garlic, diced (3)

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium parsnip, chopped (extra fingerling potatoes)

1 medium yukon gold-type potato, chopped (4 fingerling potatoes)

1 medium sweet potato, chopped

a large handful of frozen peas, rinsed (used 2)

400 ml/1 1/2 cups light coconut milk

200 ml/3/4 cups soy milk* (used 1 cup unsweetened almond milk)

curry paste to taste (2 tsp)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

salt & pepper

Fresh chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish (cilantro)

(couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast to add B-12 and sop up some liquid)

Combine all the ingredients except the peas in a deep casserole dish. Cover and bake at 190°c/375°f for about 30 minutes, then take it out and give it a stir. Bake for another 15 minutes, then add the peas and stir again. Bake for another 10 minutes or so, then serve garnished with fresh chopped cilantro.

(Mine didn't cook through, so I finished it in a crock pot on high for 1-2 hrs. I imagine though that putting everything in the crockpot and cooking on low while at work all day, then adding peas when you get home because they only have to warm would be just as nice)

not baby food, promise. just a bad picture