Butternut Chickpea kale coconut casserole topped with hazelnuts

Casseroles are a winter staple. So versatile, easy to make, can feed a few or feed a crowd, and best part is you can stick one into the oven and and kind of forget about it for a while. On a cold day having the oven on is always welcome, and timing with these things, well you can keep it in the oven for a little while longer then it needs because the worst thing that will happen is that it will get a little more crispy, and that is only an added bonus because the crispy bits are the best.  And what I really love about casseroles is left overs. If you are smart you make it bigger then needed so you have some left over to either eat the next day or freeze for a meal later. Leftover casseroles are the best. 

This casserole is a nice, hearty, stick toy your bone with our feeling heavy and gross casserole. Coconut milk and butternut squash give a creaminess, chickpeas for protein and goodness, kale because, and hazelnuts for a nice yummy crunch. All the flavors pair well together and also pair well with many different types of seasonings. I was going to go curry, then I was thinking rosemary, but ended up keeping it simple without any spices which was really nice because the flavors were all rich and clean. But really, you could go a bunch of different ways with this because its a casserole and thats what casserole do. 

The stuff. You will need a can of chickpeas, a can of coconut milk (I used light coconut), some kale, an onion, and a butternut squash (you will only need about 3 -ish cups cubed so your squash doesn't need to be as big as mine was). Also need some garlic, raw hazelnuts, olive oil, coconut flour, and salt and pepper 

Start by chopping the onion into small pieces and mincing the garlic. Add to a big pot with a little olive oil and get it on a medium heat to start to cook it all down. 

While the onions and garlic are cooking,  cube the squash. You probably only need the neck, so cut the bottom off (save for later) and peel the skin (also save for later , for soup or stock). Cut the peeled squash into mouth sized cubes. 

And by the time you are done with the squash, the onion and garlic have had enough time cooking. Add in the can of coconut milk and the coconut flour. Stir in the flour and bring the pot to a boil, then turn heat down to medium again and let cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken a bit.

Remove from heat and add in the squash, the chickpeas, and salt and pepper. Mix it all around.

Pour directly into the casserole dish filled with kale and give that all a good mix around.

Level it all out and top with the chopped hazelnuts.  Now into the oven it goes. 

And hour or so later, you have yourself a casserole ready for for your face.

Grab a bowl and dig on in.

-C

P.S. We realized as we are eating that a really goof vinegary hot sauce or lime juice are perfect addition to this dish. So do that. 

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Butternut Chickpea Kale Coconut Casserole Topped with Hazelnuts 

serves 3-5

• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 can chick peas drained 
• 3 ish cups cubed butternut squash
• 1/2 bundle of kale (like 5 big handfuls chopped up)
• 1/2 cup chopped raw hazelnuts
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour ( can sub regular flour)
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper 
• Either vinegary hot sauce or a lime wedges (optional for serving)

preheat oven to 375

Start by chopping the onion into small pieces and mincing the garlic. Add to a large pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and place on a medium heat to start cooking. 

While the onions are going, peel and dice your squash. The easiest way to do this is to cut the neck off and then peel that. (save the peels and the base for soup) Dice the peeled squash into mouth sized cubes and set aside.

Once the onions are lightly cooked, whisk in the canned coconut milk and the coconut flour. Bring mixture to a boil then return to a medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the milk starts to thicken a bit. Add in the squash, the chick peas, and a teaspoon of salt and pepper. Mix together. Add in the chopped up kale and mix that it then dump it all into 3 quart casserole dish. Level it out and top with the chopped hazelnuts. Place the casserole into the oven and bake for 1 hour ( or a little longer for the crispier crunchy parts. 

Once you remove from oven, let sit for 5-10 minutes to set up and then call it ready. 

Serve with hot sauce and or lime wedges.

Any left over is great for a meal  within then next few days or frozen for a meal down the road 

Lentil Rutabaga Shepherd's Pie

The sister came over for dinner again this week (we have established a weekly homework dinner club) which then turned into an argument between me, her, and the mr. I told them I was making shepherd's pie and went about my way in doing so. The mr was gone for a bit, I was cooking, Barb was homeworking and all was good. When the mr came home for dinner and I pulled out the pie, he was skeptical. Then I served it up and handed him a nice big bowl of this amazing looking/smelling/tasting/ shepherd's pie and the first thing he said was "this is not shepherd's pie. Shepherd's pie is mashed potatoes, corn and meat." Well ,yeah" I said, "that is one way to make it, but shut it you... I am calling it shepherd's pie" Haha. And little Barb, she was on my side and had none of the mr skepticism. and started to argue with him.(She is always in my side) Me, I just sat there and ate and let them fight.

By the end of dinner, the mr still wouldn't call it shepherd pie but together they settled on a new name. "Judah Pie" because Judah is a religious name and a shepherd sound religious too and they are such freaking weirdos... I don't know how they think. Oh how much do I love our dinners.

Anyway, still calling it shepherd's pie so yeah, I win!

The stuff. One big rutabaga, some dried lentils.half a big onion, a zucchini, some frozen peas ,and a couple carrots.  Garlic, rosemary, and a bay leaf or two are going in to the mix along with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. All some good good stuff if I say so myself, but veggie wise...use what you got on hand. Heck you even go with a straight up bag of some frozen stuff..

Start by peeling and dicing up the rutabaga. When dicing, make the chunks kinda small (they cook faster) and stick them into a pot of cold water. Cook them like you would potatoes..(salted water, bring to boil, turn heat to medium and cook until super tender)

And get those lentils on the stove too. Add the rosemary and bay leaf to the water, stick on the stove, bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and toss a lid on the b.

Alright, so that stuff is cooking, now you can chop up the veggies and toss them into a skillet with a splash of oil and water. Stick those on the stove on medium heat for a few minutes, just to give them a little head start in cooking. Let them start to sweat, but don't let them get mushy.

After a few minutes, toss in the peas, the garlic (after its minced up) and a few glugs of balsamic vinegar. cook for just another minute or two.

And the lentils are done!

Dump those babies into the skillet with the veggies (remove the bay leaves) and mix around. Season with salt and pepper, taste, add more if needed and more vinegar if you think you want too. And smooth out the mixture into the skillet.

Super fork tender and sprinkled with a good amount of salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil. Also add in a bit of the reserved liquid to fluff it up a bit.

Mash Mash Mash

The veggie lentil mixture gets topped with that mash and is spread out all nice like.  Ready to be popped into the oven to bake.

Look at that golden skillet of amazing. Baked to perfection........ Smells so good.

Serves with a hunk of bread and a fork to eat it with.

Whatever you call it, we can all agree that we can call it good!

-Peace out duders!!

-C

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Lentil Rutabaga Shepherd's Pie

• 1 medium sized rutabaga
• 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
• 3 cups water
• 2-4 cloves garlic
• 1-2 by leaves
• 2 teaspoons rosemary
• 2 small or one large carrot
• 1/2 a large sweet onion (or ant onion)
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 cup frozen peas
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Note. This is one of those "recipes " that is easily adapted to what you got in you fridge. The main ingredients are rutabaga and lentils, but the veggies can be swapped with whatever, just make sure you end up with about about 2 1/2 cups of veggies to mix in. And even the seasoning. You could swap out the rosemary and add curry instead. Oh would that be nice.

Start by peeling the rutabaga. Dice it into small chunks and place into a large pot of cold water with a good pinch of salt. Place on stove, bring to a boil then turn heat to medium and cook the rutabaga until fork tender. 

And right after the rutabaga is on the stove, get the lentils going. Water, rosemary, bay leaves, and the dried lentils all go into a pot, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and top with a lid. Cook until tender and the water has been absorbed, which should take about. 20 minutes. Check after 15 to see how they are coking. If they seem to dry, add in a little more water.

Preheat oven to 400.

Grab the veggies (besides peas) and chop them all into little chunks. Toss into a 10 or 12 inch oven safe skillet with a splash of olive oil and water and season with salt and pepper Stick on medium heat for a few minutes to just slightly soften the veggies.  Remove them from heat and toss in minced up garlic, the peas, a tablespoon or two of vinegar.

Once the lentils are cooked, toss those in with the veggies and mix all around then spread evenly in the skillet.

If you want to bake the shepherd's pie in a casserole dish, just dump all the stuff into said dish once the mixture is done.

Now the rutabaga should be done now. Strain but reserve liquid and with a masher, mash the crap our of the rutabaga, adding in salt, pepper, olive oil to taste, and a little (like 1/4 -1/2 a cup of the reserved liquid to give it a fluffier consistency.  Once good and mashed, top the lentil veggie mixture with the mash and smooth out. Sprinkle with more pepper and pop the thing into the oven. Bake for 20ish minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown.

Remove, let cool a few minutes, dish it out, and dig in!