VEGAN VEGGIE BEAN CASSOULET

I am loving the delicious one pot meals I have made from the mother-daughter combo at the blog "Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures." Don't be afraid of this dish with a French word that you may not know how to pronounce. It is easy and super delicious. The cornmeal crust topping is knock-your-socks-off good.

This fabulous recipe can be found in its original form here. I only made a few changes to suit what I had on hand in my kitchen.

Want to know to pronounce cassoulet? Listen here.

In case you need a refresher on tamari, miso, or cornmeal, I have included my PowerPoint slides at the bottom of this page.

Since this is a bean recipe I thought I would include this video about farting: The Science of Farts

Vegan Veggie Bean Cassoulet

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion, fine dice (I used sweet onion)

3/4 cup carrots, small dice

3/4 cup celery, small dice

1 small zucchini, small dice

1 small yellow squash, small dice (I didn’t have so used another zucchini)

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced (I used 3 cloves so was more than 1 TBSP)

2 1/4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth

1 Tablespoon reduced sodium tamari (I was out of tamari so used coconut aminos)

1 ½ teaspoons liquid smoke

1 teaspoon miso (I used “mellow white” miso)

1 (15.5 oz.) can navy beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15.5 oz.) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Spice/Herb Ingredients:

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 Tablespoons dried minced onion flakes

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Large pinch rosemary (I chopped the dried rosemary leaves in my blender first)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper or to taste

Cornmeal Crust Ingredients: (I recommend making a double batch)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 Tablespoon almond flour (or flour of choice)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

2 Tablespoons unsweetened plain plant milk

2 Tablespoons unsweetened plain plant yogurt

1 Tablespoon unsalted almond butter

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F with the oven rack in middle.

2. I used a food processor to quickly chop the onion, 1 large carrot, and 2 large celery stalks to save time.

3. In a large oven safe Dutch Oven skillet or similar skillet, add the onions, celery, carrots, zucchini and squash. Sauté over medium heat about 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Add the minced garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds.

5. Add all the remaining ingredients except the Cornmeal Crust Ingredients. Stir to combine. Increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the skillet from the stove.

6. Place the dry Cornmeal Crust Ingredients into a bowl, whisk to combine, then add all the wet ingredients, stir to combine.

7. Discard the bay leaf from the veggie/bean mixture.

8. Gently place the cornmeal mixture on top of the bean skillet mixture making a small circle of cornmeal crust mixture in the middle. Sprinkle a tiny bit of thyme leaves over top of the cornmeal crust mixture if desired.

9. Bake in oven for 22 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the cornmeal crust layer. If you want the topped browned a little more, then place under the broiler for a few minutes.