Individual Zucchini Casseroles for Two

This is the food that has made me want to start doing some strength-training. Please do not laugh at me while I share with you the following story. Oh, go ahead an laugh, actually. It was rather ridiculous.


This  recipe calls for two zucchinis and one carrot, all grated. Well, my mushy arms are used to grating things effortlessly using my food processor, but I wanted to do it manually for the blog to see how it would turn out because I know there are people who will need to do it with a manual grater. By the time I finished grating my first zucchini, my left triceps was already cramping up and burning. I still had another zucchini and a carrot to go! I started to question how bad I wanted that carrot, which was starting to look about as massive as a baseball bat, but I persevered and pushed through the pain. I did it! I felt like I'd just won a wrestling match! I proceeded to gleefully transfer the grated vegetables to the frying pan. As I was stirring the zucchini and carrot shreds with a wooden spoon, my arm suddenly seized up on me and did a sort of jerk upwards while I was holding that spoon which was loaded with my freshly grated veg. The contents of the spoon flew over my head and across the kitchen leaving a trail of vegetable carnage on the freshly mopped kitchen floor.

Well, that went well.

Strength-training starts today! Or maybe I'll just have a piece of cake instead. We'll see.


Individual Zucchini Casseroles

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free

Author: Wing It Vegan

Prep time:

Cook time:

Total time:

Serves: 2


Ingredients:

  • 1 small onion

  • 2-3 tbsp oil, for frying

  • 2 medium sized zucchinis, peeled

  • 1 medium sized carrot, peeled

  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

  • 1/4 tsp salt

  • black pepper to taste

  • For The Sauce:

  • ¼ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight

  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

  • 1 tbsp cornstarch

  • 1/8 tsp garlic powder

  • 1/4 tsp onion powder

  • 1/8 tsp salt

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vegan milk (I use So Delicious coconut milk)

  • ¼ to ½ cup shredded vegan cheese, optional

  • store-bought roasted red bell peppers, sliced (optional - this is just for a pop of color)


What to do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and spray two four-ounce ramekins or individual tart pans with cooking spray. Place the ramekins or tart pans on a rimmed baking sheet in case there is any spillage while they're baking.

  2. Cut the onion in half and cut it into thin slices, or you can just chop it finely.

  3. Sauté the onion in a tablespoon or two of olive oil over medium heat until soft and slightly browned. You may need to lower the heat if the onion is getting browned too quickly. If the onion wants to stick to the pan you can add a tiny splash of broth or water. Stir frequently.

  4. The onion will take at least 10 minutes, so now is a good time to grate the zucchinis and carrot. I like mine finely shredded because I like a super creamy casserole, but if you want more texture you can grate them with the coarser side of your grater.

  5. When the onion has softened and browned, throw in the grated vegetables and stir well. Add nutmeg, salt, and black pepper to taste, and cook for another 10 or 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are fairly soft and considerably reduced in size. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings until you're happy with it. Keep in mind that the sauce will also have salt and black pepper.

  6. Meanwhile prepare the sauce. In a blender combine the cashews, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and milk. Blend until smooth.

  7. If you're using vegan cheese, now would be a good time to stir it in.

  8. Pour the cashew sauce over the cooked vegetables and give it all a good stir. You can use a fine mesh strainer if you're worried about any chunky bits of cashew that didn't get blended.

  9. If you're using jarred bell peppers to make them more colorful, just spread a few around the tops willy-nilly.

  10. Bake for 30 minutes, then crank the heat up to 375 F (190 C) and bake for 15 more minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the tops look golden. I like to broil mine for the final two or three minutes because my oven won't brown from the top very well.



And now for the cute. What is going on here? It's synchronized grooming! Interrupted by me, of course. Poor geese. Why do they even hang out here? Don't they know I'm always there harassing them with my camera? It's their fault, really.


Comments

  1. Work those muscles! Haha. You're a trooper for grating all those veggies - not an easy task, for sure! Love these casseroles.

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  2. I will never take my little food processor for granted again! :D

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  3. I would suggest a strenuous exercise plan of lifting huge and heavy slices of chocolate cake up to your mouth. That will help build those muscles. ;)
    I see you trying to sneak my nemesis in there. A 'pop of colour'? I think not. ;)

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  4. Shoveling cake into my mouth is an exercise plan I can actually do! Where do I sign up?

    I actually thought of you and chuckled when I was putting the pepper slices on there! :D

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  5. What are you talking about? That is strenght training! Do that every day and you'll be super strong. And then have cake. I always prefer a hand grater. It makes the texture so much better. But I haven't used one in forever because I am lazy. I did start strenght training recently though, so we'll see. T

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  6. That does sound like a solid plan. Grate vegetables, then eat cake. I like it! Only I'll eat the cake with the non-grating hand, just in case my arm betrays me again and I end up flinging cake across the kitchen! :)

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  7. What is that goose doing? Did you disturb a goose yoga class? Is she doing "backwards facing goose"?

    Whatever they are doing, it's very cute! :)

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  8. That is a very difficult yoga pose! Advanced level, for sure. I don't think I could rotate my head exorcist-style like that, let alone dislocate my shoulder! :D

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  9. Hmmmm... you chuckled? Evil capsicum overlord. :P

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mwahaha! Fear the evil capsipepper overlord! Overlady?

    ReplyDelete

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