My son and I totally adore this casserole, made of toasted potatoes, red bell peppers, corn kernels, black beans, and a creamy vegan sauce on top that is made from blended silken tofu that tastes like sour cream but is much healthier.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6servings
Author: Valerie Mates
Ingredients
Potatoes
6cupsof potatoes -- about 2 pounds
olive or canola oil
salt
Toppings
1red bell pepperor about 1 cup of frozen, chopped bell peppers
10ouncesof frozen corn kernels -- "supersweet" corn is good in thisthough any kind should work
1 15-ouncecan or bag of black beansdrained and rinsed
Dice the potatoes into cubes that are 1/2 inch or smaller.
Place the diced potatoes onto a non-stick cookie sheet.
Sprinkle on some salt (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) and some oil (maybe 2 tablespoons).
Stir the potatoes, oil, and salt until they are evenly mixed.
Bake the potatoes in the oven, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown on most sides. When I did not preheat my oven ahead of time, I clocked this step at 30 minutes. If your oven is fully pre-heated, figure maybe 20 minutes. When the potatoes are done, they should look like gorgeous cube-shaped nicely-browned french fries. If you are in a hurry, you can bake them less, just until they are soft when pierced with a fork. That will work fine too, though I think they are yummier when they are browned.
Meanwhile, while the potatoes cook, defrost the corn in a bowl in the microwave. Microwaves vary, but in my microwave this takes about 4 minutes.
If you are using fresh bell pepper, chop it. If you are using frozen, defrost it in the microwave.
Rinse the black beans -- I like to put them into a strainer and run cold water through it to do this.
Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.
When the potatoes are done, remove them from the oven and lower the temperature to 350 degrees.
Carefully pour the hot potatoes and any oil that is with them into a 9x13 inch pan. Distribute the potatoes evenly throughout the pan.
On top of the potatoes, add layers of beans, corn, and bell pepper, spreading out each one evenly.
Pour the sauce on top. Use a spatula to spread it out to almost reach the edges of the pan, but not quite touching. (By not quite touching the edges, this keeps the sauce from sticking to the sides of the pan, which makes cleanup easier.) Keeping the sauce at about 1/4 inch of distance from the edges works well.