Cheesy Vegan Spaghetti Squash and Broccoli Casserole

I've made a lot of progress this week in my goal to cook with at least one new ingredient each week. After my half marathon (recap here!), Brett and I stopped at the Winter Park Farmers Market and picked up a bunch of produce. In addition to our regular produce, we got bok choy, fennel and spaghetti squash, three veggies that I have yet to cook with before. 

I sauteed the bok choy with some salt and pepper and put it inside a whole wheat wrap with sweet potato, black beans and tomato. It definitely reminds me of some Asian dishes I've had and made me want to try it again soon in a noodle soup or stir fry.

For the fennel, I roasted the bulb with some potatoes and carrots and used the leaves and soft stems to make a lemon, fennel dressing. This dish turned out great! I'll be sharing it soon.

Lastly, for the spaghetti squash I combined two recipes to make this cheesy dish. I know I'm way behind in using spaghetti squash, but it really was so easy and shredded just like spaghetti.

To cook the spaghetti squash, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and cut your squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then place the halves face up on a baking dish and spray the halves with cooking spray. 

Then stick it in the oven and roast for about 50 minutes until its tender enough to poke with a fork. After it cools enough to touch, just take a fork and shred the squash horizontally until all the squash has been removed. 

You can use it as a spaghetti substitute or have it act as rice for stir-fries or curries. Or even better, you can make this awesome Vegan Cheesy Spaghetti Squash and Broccoli Casserole.

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash and Broccoli Casserole

(Makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

· 1 large spaghetti squash, roasted and shredded

· Two cups steamed broccoli

· 1/2 –1 cup green peas (optional)

For the Cheese Sauce:

· 1 1/4 cups water

· 1 cup almond milk

· 3/4 cup nutritional yeast

· 3 tablespoons cornstarch

· 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

· 1/2 teaspoon paprika

· 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

· 1 tablespoon tahini

· Ground pepper and red chili flakes to taste

  

Directions:

1. See above for how to roast and shred a spaghetti squash.

2. For the cheese sauce, place all of the ingredients from water to tahini in a blender and blend until smooth.

3. Pour the sauce in a large sauce pan and heat over medium-low heat. Allow the sauce to thicken while stirring occasionally. This should take about 5 minutes.

4. Once the sauce begins to thicken, add in the spaghetti squash, broccoli and peas.

5. Season with ground pepper and red chili flakes.

Notes: The cheese sauce is adapted from Oh She Glows.

Eat Consciously,

     Faith