Creamy, salty, and satisfying. This casserole goes well with fresh broccoli or another vegetable of choice.
1/2 of a 1lb bag of fusilli noodles, cooked
1 lb ground sausage, cooked and drained
6 oz of Tofutti brand (dairy-free) sour cream(about 1/2 of a 12 oz container)
few shakes of garlic powder
few shakes of nutritional yeast (optional)
few shakes of black pepper
1 "cream of" mixture: 4 Tbs of Earth Balance butter, 1/3 cup flour, 2 cups chicken
broth
bread crumbs (panko or other type) for topping (optional)
Method:
1. boil noodles. cook sausage.
2. in a saucepan, combine with a whisk: "cream of" mixture ingredients (Earth Balance, flour, chicken broth). Add garlic powder, pepper and bring to low boil to thicken. Remove from heat and add nutritional yeast and dairy-free sour cream.
3. Mix "cream of" mixture with noodles and sausage. Scoop into casserole dish.
4. sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden on top and a little 'bubbly'. Let cool down and enjoy!
This recipe has a silly story behind it. I got the recipe from my mother one night that I couldn't figure out what to cook for dinner. After she read the ingredients to me over the phone, I thought:
"I will NEVER make this dish, it sounds flavorless and yucky. I don't even really like raisins."
She must have heard a pause in my voice and told me that EVEN my dad liked it. I must have asked "really?!? are you SURE he liked it?" at least 5 times. I told my husband the ingredients and he said "so even your dad liked it??" Finally, we decided we should give it a try because if dad liked it, why not, I have nothing else to fix.
Just like that, it is a new FAVORITE of ours. It reminds me of a Moroccan dish I had once, but my mother said she got it from a Filipino lady. Anyways, don't let the simple ingredients or un-picturesque-ness (is that even a word?) fool you, it is really delicious!
Filipino "Comfort Food" Dish
1 lb ground sausage, cooked and drained
1/2 large onion
1 Tb minced garlic (store minced or fresh are both fine)
approx. 1 cup of tomato sauce (we use the Classico's Tomato & Basil)
1/4 cup rasins
few shakes of black pepper
few shakes of red pepper (add to individual plates)
couscous, cooked to box instructions (or rice is a fine substitution)
(the original recipe calls for some carrots, but we haven't included them yet)
Method:
1. Cook the ground sausage.
2. In a large wok type pan, saute the onion in some olive oil, until tender.
3. Add sausage, tomato sauce, rasins, garlic, and pepper. Stir until well mixed and warmed.
4. Cook the couscous according to the box. Takes about 5 minutes.
5. Serve couscous and top with sausage mixture. Season with red pepper according to individual tastes and enjoy!
One of my favorite breakfast comfort foods is biscuits and gravy. Over the years I have developed TWO ways to make this morning staple without dairy!
My favorite is the coconut version, but that's just me. Try them both!
One thing I tried and never could get quite the right texture or flavor is, making it with rice milk. It is simply too thin and pretty bland. Another thing to remember, as my mom always said "you can't make a edible, low salt, low fat gravy". If you are on a diet, skip this meal (or don't make it often) ;)
I usually cook my sausage in my pan, then scoop it out and drain it on a paper towel while I make up the gravy in the same pan. I never measure the amount of salt or pepper I use. I just add it until it tastes right, so the amounts below are an estimate. Please adjust according to your personal preference. I usually cook about 1 lb of sausage at a time but only use about 1/2 for the gravy. Feel free to add more for a extra meaty gravy, or less for more of a plain white gravy.
| gravy #1 (soy milk version)
3 Tbs Earth Balance butter
3 Tbs white flour
soy milk
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (unless using salty sausage, then omit)
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper
method:
1. Melt butter in pan, add flour quickly.
2. Pour in some soy milk. Add more soy milk slowly, stirring with a whisk until it is a good gravy texture*.
3. Add salt and pepper
4. Add ground sausage (cooked and drained) and remove from heat.
Serve on toast or biscuits.
| gravy #2 (coconut milk version)
1 can of full fat coconut milk
2 Tbs white flour
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (unless using salty sausage, then omit)
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper
method:
1. Open and pour full fat coconut milk can into pan.
2. Add flour and salt and pepper.
3. Stir with a whisk until thickened into a good gravy texture.
4. Add sausage (cooked and drained) and remove from heat.
Serve on toast or biscuits.
|
*Not too thick, not too thin. Amount of soy milk will vary. Maybe 1 to 1.5 cups? Remember it thickens after cooling slightly.
RSS Feed