Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
My family is not exclusively vegetarian, but we do eat more vegetables than the average American family. I’m always looking for ways to increase our vegetable intake. This year, I’ve made a goal for myself to prepare one vegetarian dish per week. This is new territory for me as I generally use vegetables as a side more than the main event. This recipe for Vegetarian Mexican Casserole was my first go at creating a vegetarian main. Thankfully, my whole family enjoyed this dish.
WHY NO CHEESE?
When I look at Mexican casseroles online, most (by far) are covered in cheese. I will admit, I think cheese makes everything taste better. You could slap together just about anything, throw cheese on it, and it would taste good. The real challenge of creating a Mexican casserole is finding ingredients that will stand on their own without being dressed up by cheese.
While I love cheese, I find that (in my body) it contributes to inflammation and excess weight. As an example, I am generally pretty good about maintaining a dairy-free diet. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s this past year, I allowed myself to indulge in all the various cheeses set out at parties. The result has been stiff muscles and joints, brain fog, and about five extra pounds sitting on my hips. Since I generally feel better without dairy in my life, I choose not to cook with it. (These recipes are all dairy free.) I do think it makes some recipes more challenging, but it also allows other flavors and textures a chance to shine.
THE INGREDIENTS
VEGGIES
As this recipe is written, I used an orange pepper, onion, cauliflower, spinach, cilantro, and green onions. The roasted cauliflower really makes up the flavor base of this casserole. I think you could play with the vegetables to account for personal preferences. For instance, if you’d like to add more heat, you could roast a jalapeño pepper or a poblano pepper with the cauliflower before mixing everything together. If you eat corn, you could add a bag of frozen corn or a can of drained corn. I think there’s room to play with the mix of vegetables here.
SPICES
Because of the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, white pepper, and red pepper flakes, this casserole definitely carries the flavor of Mexican food. This recipe is not overly spicy as written. If you want to punch up the heat a little bit, you could add a bit of chipotle pepper or cayenne. With either of those, I think a little goes a long way. Just 1/4 teaspoon would probably be enough to satisfy my taste.
GREEN ENCHILADA SAUCE
For the sauce, I used the Siete brand Green Enchilada Sauce. This is not the cheapest option on the shelf, but it does have carefully sourced ingredients. As a comparison, the Las Palmas Green Enchilada Sauce contains cornstarch, soybean oil, MSG, maltodextrin, yeast extract, and sugar. These are all things I typically avoid, whereas the Siete brand is everything I look for on a label. The only way to get cleaner ingredients would be to make the enchilada sauce from organic ingredients at home. When seeking to eat real food, labels matter. Every item should be thought of as the sum of its ingredients.
The Siete brand Green Enchilada Sauce ingredients are as listed: tomatillos, water, green bell peppers, jalapeños, dates, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, flax seeds, black pepper, turmeric, and chia seeds.
FOR SERVING
I top this Vegetarian Mexican Casserole with fresh cilantro and green onions. In my family, we serve this with guacamole. My husband likes to douse his in Tabasco or Sriracha sauce. My son uses his as a dip for his chips. I’ve tried that myself. It’s warm and savory. It sort of reminds me of warm spinach dip…but Mexican style, and of course dairy free. However you choose to serve this casserole, I hope you enjoy these ingredients together. Healing foods can taste oh so good.
Chop, peel, and heal!
Vegetarian Mexican Casserole (Gluten and Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- Roasting pan
- Parchment paper
- Cast iron skillet or other oven safe pan
- 1 head of cauliflower, chopped
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 orange pepper, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2-3 oz fresh spinach
- 1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro, divided
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 oz Siete Green Enchilada Sauce
- 1 1/3 c vegetable stock (or chicken stock if not concerned with being “vegetarian”)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Chop a head of cauliflower. Line a roasting pan with a piece of parchment paper. Place the cauliflower pieces on the paper. Coat with 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the cauliflower and roast in a 425 degree oven (on the bottom rack) for 15-20 minutes. When done, the bottom of the cauliflower should be brown and crispy.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, dice the orange pepper and onion. Heat a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe pan) on the stove top. When the pan is hot, add about 1 tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the diced pepper and onion. Sauté until the onion is translucent, then turn off the heat.
- To the stovetop pan, add the sea salt, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, white pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Add the fresh spinach (several handfuls) and half of the chopped cilantro. Continue to stir as the spinach wilts.
- When the cauliflower is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 375 Fahrenheit.
- Add the cauliflower to the stovetop pan. Add the quinoa (rinsed and drained), the green enchilada sauce, and the vegetable stock. Stir to combine. Using a large spoon, press everything flat so that there is no quinoa raised above the liquid.
- Cover the cast iron skillet and place it in the 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
- The casserole is done when all of the liquid has been absorbed. I try not to cook so long that the casserole is dry and cake-like. Instead, I look for the quinoa to be puffed up while everything else in the pan is still moist. Rest five minutes before serving.
- Serve with fresh cilantro and green onions, guacamole, hot sauce, and/or chips.
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