This is going to sound ridiculous. I've never made a casserole. Not green bean, or tuna, or chicken, or cheeseburger casserole. In fact, it's not even something that I can recall my mom making when I was growing up. And if she did, I probably wouldn't have eaten it. I had that complex where I didn't like my food touching or mixing with other food.
I thank God I overcame that crippling disorder because now I can appreciate things like this incredible casserole. Brussels sprouts meet sweet potatoes meet cauliflower in perfect harmony.
Now that I've made one, I really like the simplicity of casserole. Life is already too busy as it is. Commute, work, commute, make dinner, prepare lunch, do it all over again the next day. Weekends are filled with making blog recipes and working on side projects. Heck, I'm currently writing this post from the subway platform at Nevins Street in Brooklyn.
The best thing about this casserole is that we made it on Sunday and we had dinner for the next two nights. Pop it in the oven and take it out when it's hot. Meanwhile, I have more time to enjoy my husband's company. That's what I call winning.
There is never enough time for things like this. At the end of every day, I find myself longing for more. More time with Clark. More popcorn on the couch. More deep conversations. More exploring in Brooklyn. More soup at our makeshift dining table. More time with friends. More Netflix reruns of That 70's show. More minutes for Skyping family. More time for the blog. I like meals like this casserole because it gives me more time for any of the above.
Now, let's talk about the flavor in this thing. Forget about green beans; there's a new casserole in town. There may be a little more effort involved, but it's worth it. This dish combines the absolute best ingredients into flavorful bite after bite. Each veggie adds to the taste and the creamy sauce brings it all together. If you've never made spaghetti squash before, have no fear. Just visit this post for an easy walk-through of how it's done.
My favorite secret weapon – rosemary – is the perfect complement to the flavors that are already going on. You won't believe how good your house smells while it's in the oven.
Creamy Vegetarian Casserole
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This vegetable casserole recipe is full of fall's best flavors – brussels sprouts, cauliflower, sweet potatoes. It's the perfect healthy comfort food that makes for great leftovers.
Ingredients
Casserole
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (baked and scraped)
- ½ cup creamy cauliflower sauce
- ⅓ cup goat cheese (crumbled)
- ½ cup cauliflower (sliced)
- ½ cup sweet potatoes (cubed)
- ½ cup brussels sprouts (quartered)
- 2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
Cauliflower Sauce
- ¼ head of cauliflower
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
Instructions
Cauliflower Sauce
- Boil ¼ of a head of cauliflower florets in 2 cups of water for 10-15 minutes and save the water.
- Sauté 3 cloves of garlic in olive oil.
- In a blender, add cauliflower, garlic with oil, ¼ cup of water from boiled cauliflower, and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
Casserole
- Preheat oven to 400º
- Prepare all vegetables as described above.
- Line two baking pans with parchment paper. One is for the spaghetti squash and one is for the cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and brussels sprouts.
- Lightly spray the spaghetti squash with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place both halves flesh side down on the baking sheet.
- On the other baking sheet, combine the veggies (cauliflower, sweet potato, brussels sprouts)
- and drizzle with olive oil, then season with sea salt and pepper.
- Roast both pans for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove pans from oven and spray an 8"-9" casserole pan with olive oil.
- After it has cooled slightly, scrape the spaghetti squash clean of "noodles." Set aside in a bowl for later.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325º.
- Add spaghetti squash to the oiled pan and spread it out in an even layer.
- Add vegetable mixture on top of the spaghetti squash. Pour cauliflower sauce over top and smooth it across veggies. Crumble goat cheese on top.
- Sprinkle fresh rosemary to your heart's content.
- Bake for 15 minutes on 325º. Enjoy.
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Main
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 99
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 1840mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 10g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 4mg
Recipe looks wonderful but need to be careful of salt intake. It looks like nutrition info is for whole recipe and not per serving, correct?
Hi Judy! You're correct. The sodium would be for the entire recipe. I'll fix it to reflect individual servings!
I also, don't see the spaghetti squash pictured. I put it in the casserole dish and then layered the other veggies over it. I felt like I wanted the dish more mixed together, rather than so separated. It was delicious, but I also felt that the quantities were small in comparison to the squash.
It's a little hard to see from the pictures, but I layered it on the bottom and then added the other veggies over top. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
What is the serving size? It just says "4." Is there a weight or measurement for one serving? Thanks!
I made this last week, we LOVED it, but the recipe is not longer visible??
HELP!!
Hi Julie –
I am so sorry! Our site was hacked a couple of days ago and we are still trying to sort things out. I've re-added the recipe, please let me know if you have any problems with it! And thank you for alerting me to the problem.
Stumbled on this recipe - cant seem to figure out when you use the basil and oregano you have listed in the ingredients list? Thanks!
Hi Katie –
Sorry about that omission! The herbs are added to the blender – I've amended the recipe to reflect that step. Thanks!
This looks delicious! How important is the cheese? I'm on day 21 of AIP elimination and looking for thanksgiving recipes. I'd have to omit the dairy and black pepper, but I think it might work. Thoughts?
Absolutely! You could just leave out the goat cheese, without a problem. Of course, the flavor won't be quite the same, but it will still be delicious. :)
This recipe sounds very yummy and I'll definitely be trying it soon. Though any suggestions for replacing the sweet potato in the recipe? My daughter is allergic to sweet potatoes. I'm sure regular potatoes would work but not provide quite the same flavor profile.
I would try substituting with a creamier type of potato with some flavor – not just a standard Idaho. A Yukon gold would be a perfect substitute! Let me know how you, and your daughter, like it!
Hated cauliflower and was grossed out by brussel sprouts before trying this recipe last night. It was FABULOUS! We have told a million people about it already, haha, this was insanely good. We used feta because we didn't have goat cheese, that was good too! Thank you for opening my good world to two previously hated veggies!! =)
Well, score!!! I feel better knowing that we've succeeded in helping you like two new, awesome veggies! Brussels sprouts are close to the top on my list. <3 So glad you enjoyed!
This is the first time I have been to your blog, and I am excited to follow you. After making this for dinner tonight, I will be visiting here more often. It was delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.
So glad you found us and enjoyed the casserole! :) There's plenty more great stuff where that came from!
Hi there. Is it really only 1/2 cup of sweet potato and the other items? It looks like more in the photo. Thanks!
Yep! Just 1/2 cup. There was a bigger quantity in the photo, but we just saved that for leftovers! You could probably add more if you feel like it. :)
Had this last night. It was delicious! Everybody loved it! Thanks for the recipe guys!
Awesome! So glad to hear it was a hit!
Please clarify the spaghetti squash. You bake and scrape it then roast it again? Do you mix it in with everything else at the end or do you serve other veggies on top of it? I don't see where you used it. Looks delish! Thank you!
Thanks for catching that! It's corrected and easier to follow now. :) Enjoy!