Vegan Quinoa Casserole

My first casserole. Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and delicious.

We watched the documentary "Forks Over Knives" a few nights ago and it was incredibly eye-opening. We watched and commented on the surprising facts and chatted about what it would be like to live on a plant-based diet. When the movie was finished, we stopped and looked at each other. Expecting my wonderful boyfriend to look at me and say it was all a crock, he surprising turned and said, "I want to go vegan".

Vegan? Not even vegetarian? No, full-blown vegan. No animal products at all. No cream, no milk, no eggs, nada. I of course was supportive as I primarily eat vegetarian and don't consume dairy. I figured it would be a cinch!

So far so good. He does still put cream in his coffee, but is making a conscious effort to eat vegetarian at least. I'm super excited about this new development because it means that I get to try some new things in the kitchen. I've been feeling uninspired. I needed a change of pace. Something new to cook. And so, vegan has been my mission.

Vegan Quinoa Casserole

Totally healthy, totally vegan, totally yummy

Vegan Quinoa Casserole

This recipe was inspired by a fabulous vegan blogger, Vegetously Vegan. I tweaked her recipe slightly to make it gluten-free, but the essentials remained. Fluffy brown rice, savory green lentils and crunchy roasted broccoli. My first casserole? So delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cups green lentils
• 2/3 cups brown rice
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon seal salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a baking dish, combine all the ingredients except for the broccoli and water. Mix them all together so the ingredients are evenly combined in the dish. Add the broccoli and then the water and stir it all together. Cover with foil and bake for 40 - 50 minutes. 

Quinoa Crust

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dry quinoa
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons of vegan, soy-free buttery spread
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried chili flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Cook the quinoa in 1/2 cup of water. Let the quinoa simmer for 8 - 10 minutes and then let cool on the stove for 5 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a food processor and add the other ingredients. Pulse until they are combined

Check on your lentils, rice and veggies in the oven. If the water is mostly absorbed, take the foil off and let it bake for another 10 minutes. The rice and lentils were still crunchy so I added another 1/4 cup of water and cranked up the oven to 400 degrees F. After they soften, pull the baking dish out of the oven and spread your quinoa crust over the top. Toss it back in the oven for another 5 minutes and then broil it for 3 to make the crust crispy.

Serve hot and garnish with a bit more chili flakes for some heat. Some like to have sour cream, so try it if you can find the vegan variety!

Serves 3 medium sized portions

Protein packed dinner with a crunchy quinoa topping

A vegan dish packed with Italian flavors finished with a slight kick.