Many years ago I switched to a plant based diet and found it hard to maintain. There were a few things I found extremely difficult, but I think all of those things have changed except for one. I am now in an area where I have access to a larger variety of items, I now can order things in bulk online (or purchase since I am in town), and I now have family support with my husband joining me. The only other thing I didn't do at the time was find a way to remake some old favorites. In hindsight that was an error of youth. This time I am determined to avoid that mistake.
Rainy day blahs found me wanting comfort food, and for some reason I was craving a cheesy casserole. One of my past favorites was always made with rice and chicken. It wasn't a particularly healthful dish though. I decided to set about revamping it. I used freezer assets and pantry staples to recreate it.
White rice became brown rice.
Cream of chicken soup became olive oil, whole wheat pastry flour and vegetarian "chicken" base with water.
I substituted the second half of the bag of Gardein "chicken" for the usual chicken.
Sour cream and cheese became vegan mayo and vegan cheese.
I added onion powder and garlic powder....a pinch of dried mustard...some thawed broccoli.
Topped with a sprinkle of homemade whole grain breadcrumbs and tiny bit more cheese.
Baked at 350F for about 25 minutes covered and 10 uncovered.
It was great! Just what I was looking for. The casserole dish held three large dinner servings and I still had half a dish left for lunches.
Your casserole looks yummy! I associate that particular type of casserole with church potlucks and they make me a little nostalgic. :)
ReplyDeleteHave you ever read the blog Fat Free Vegan? She has a ton of plant based recipes that are really good and quite healthy. Not sure if they'd all work for you because of allergies, but generally I've had good success with her recipes. I think she may have taken the photos for one of Robin Roberston's cookbooks, actually.
They do to me, too. I grew up going to an awful lot of them and sometimes I want that comfort food.
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