Zucchini Casserole-plant based

 For years I've been making my grandma J's Zucchini Casserole, or at least my rendition of it. 

I'm a girl who loves food traditions, but changing to a plant based diet a couple of years ago really affected many of our food based traditions. Like Thanksiving, Christmas, Easter Sunday etc. 

Many years ago our kids boycotted traditional Easter dinner foods. They determined that they loved taquitos (home made), and English trifle. So, that's what we've had for our Easter Sunday meal- for years. This year, my kids threw me a curve ball and said since only two of them eat trifle (it's totally not plant based), and as only one of them eats meat, they were open to some new Easter food traditions. 

Cue up grandma's Casserole.....(drum roll) pure comfort food. 

It is also super easy to adapt based on the quantity of your ingredients. 

There are a couple of steps to making this...and you can adapt and make it as hard or easy as you want-based on your energy levels.

Prep:

Toast 6-8 slices of plant based bread. Allow to sit put for a couple of hours until dried out and hard (if you live someplace humid, you'll want to toast the bread in your oven at a low temperature so that it can really dry out). 

Using a food processor or mandoline, slice 6-8 small-medium zucchinis into very thin slices. 

Similarly, thinly slice/chop one medium onion. 

Place zucchini and onion into a large frying pan and cook over medium high heat stirring or turning periodically. Oil is not necessary as they will quickly begin to release their juices. Cook until translucent- approximately 15-20 min. 

Stuffing:

2 T fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1T fresh thyme, finely chopped

2 t. fresh sage, finely chopped

Salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste

1 can coconut milk

1 can 3 T coconut cream (from the top of a can of coconut milk-I prefer Trader Joe's since it is purely water and cream with no additives).

Using a food processor, or grater grate the bread/toast into bread crumbs. 

Melt coconut cream in large frying pan. 

Melt coconut, add herbs and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add bread crumbs and toss to coat in herb, coconut cream mixture. Cook while stirring for 2-3 minutes. 

While stirring, pour remaining liquid from coconut milk into pan, and quickly mix into bread crumbs. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

Set aside.

Cashew cream sauce

1 cup raw cashews (soak for 2 hours if not using high powered blender like vitamix)

1/4 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 T. dried shiitake mushroom powder (I simply blend dried shiitakes for this)

1 t salt

2 T chicken less boullion (Trader Joe's has one, or this recipe)

1.5-2 cups water

Blend in high powered blender, until smooth. 

Pour into a small saucepan, and heat while constantly stirring 1-2 minutes, until thickened. 

Zucchini

Mix cooked Zucchini and onion with 1 cup cashew cream and 1 cup soy yogurt (recipe here). 

Smoked gouda cheese sauce-I use this recipe 

https://thehiddenveggies.com/vegan-smoked-gouda/

Heat oven to 350*. Line a large casserole pan with parchment paper and half of the zucchini, gouda cheese, and breadcrumbs mixture, then repeat. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes.