So again with the pins! It seemed like everywhere I looked on Pinterest there was a pin for Taco Casserole…even in the Women’s Fashion, because we have all done it-not changed our board 🙂
Well, I love taco’s and I love casserole’s so I opened a couple of the pins and was energized. A new recipe. One I have never tried, or tried to re-create before. Truly exciting when that happens, because as I have said before, I will make and eat the same thing week after week just because I know that what I am making will taste good. I hate spending money on new things and not knowing for sure if I will like them or not, so it is just easier to buy the same things over and over.
I decided to not follow any of the recipes because they called for tortillas and chips and I didn’t want to add to many carbs and I don’t eat chips. I knew I didn’t want rice, because it would soak up an juice that would be in the mixture, so I figured a casserole so why not use noodles. Not vegan but I only used the recommended 8 ounces (I weighed it out), and broke it up into little strips so I could have a little and have it throughout the casserole. After deciding on the casserole portion, I decided to go on the premise of what is in your normal taco and go from there.
I bought a couple cans of whole tomatoes, fresh spinach (only because it was on sale at Whole Foods or else it would have been frozen) to replace the lettuce, large container of sliced mushrooms for a meatier feel, a can of black beans for the re-fried beans, a large zucchini just because, a yellow onion, 2 large green peppers and Tofurky Chorizo. I also bought Nutritional Yeast, which I had never tried before and didn’t really know what to do with it, but thought it was time to try it out.
And yes, as you can see there is my homemade taco seasoning. The seasoning was the double portion from the Taco Seasoning post and the Tofurky Chorizo added some major spice. If you don’t like heat in your tacos less seasoning would probably be best. I had never bought the Chorizo before and had never eaten it prior to being a vegetarian so I didn’t know what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. I love the Tofurky brand anyway so I shouldn’t have been to worried.
I have never tried the nutritional yeast before, so I had to Google what to do with it and how specifically it was to be used. I had to look up other recipes to see how others used it, so as the first recipe ever with it I am sure the amount it off for the large casserole. But, I am glad I added it even though the smell of it kind of through me off, but it did not alter the flavor from the dish.
So here is my newly called Spanish Spaghetti. It got named this because it just isn’t the taco anymore. I also got six servings out of this. I like to portion everything out before I take my lunch or dinner from the meal. I pulled it out of the oven and then immediately scooped out the spaghetti into the lunch containers, then filled up my bowl with the rest. If you use smaller containers and have a lot left over, use one of the lunch containers as a measuring device and measure out the what is left to know exactly how many portions you have. It is easiest to get a bigger container out then fill and dump the smaller containers and into the bigger container.
Spanish Spaghetti, 6 servings.
1 Large Onion, chopped small
2 Large Green Peppers, chopped small
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1 Large Zucchini, chopped small
1 16oz Container Sliced Mushrooms, rough chopped
1 5oz Container Fresh Spinach, rough chopped
8 oz Linguine (optional)
2 Cans No Salt Added Stewed Whole Tomatoes
1 Can No Salt Added Black Beans
1 Package Tofurky Chorizo
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Portions Homemade Taco Seasoning
,
1. Turn oven on to 350 degrees. Pour the olive oil into the electric skillet (or large frying pan or wok), and turn on low-medium.
2. Chop in small chunks and drop in the pan, the onion, green pepper, garlic, zucchini and mushrooms. After the mushrooms I added the taco seasoning to start spicing things up.
3. In small portions rough chop the spinach and drop into pan.
4. Start your pot of water for the noodles (if using). I got out my little scale and weighed out 8oz of noodles. I broke them up into the measuring cup as I went along. I wanted to not use the whole package of noodles, but wanted enough to be in almost every bite. Little pieces of noodles was perfect.
5. Open and wash the black beans and drop into the skillet. Open the two cans of whole tomatoes. Pour into the skillet the tomato juice, then pour out the whole tomatoes one at a time into your hand and break them up and drop them in.
6. Open up and crumble in the Tofurky Chorizo.
7. Drain noodles in sink then drop into skillet. Mix everything together really well, and taste. Add more seasoning if necessary.
8. Turn skillet off then measure out your nutritional yeast to your desire. I probably added about 1/2 cup to the mixture. I was really not sure so edged on the side of caution.
9. Pour all ingredients into large baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
10. While baking get out your lunch containers and set up for serving. Take spaghetti out of oven when finished. Immediately scoop into the containers, then your meal last.
Enjoy!! Just an FYI, I did not add any salt or black pepper. The only seasoning was the taco seasoning. I added a little salt at each meal, but nothing like what would have been needed when making the spaghetti.
Totals Per Serving:
Fitting Into Vegan 