Vegan Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2016

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

So – I am several days into eating only food I already have in the house. I have WAY too many frozen leftovers & dry pastas & beans etc taking up space & yet I keep going to the store to buy more food. It is ridiculous & wasteful. Today’s recipe was inspired by a huge butternut squash I had & some other veggies rapidly reaching the end of their shelf life. I used jarred salsa because I had one open but made the enchilada sauce because I did not already have some in a jar or can. You can choose to go all jarred or all homemade – your call.

I also roasted a whole butternut squash. You might want to buy some already cubed & roast those – or just boil them. This can be as labor-intensive or as simple as you care to make it.

The real star of this dish is this newer vegan cheese I found. It tastes great & does a fair job at melting – so – I recommend trying it if you see it or can find it online. It is from Parmela Creamery and you can definitely buy it – and loads of other vegan cheeses – from them.

Oh – as an aside – TJ Maxx is a great source for kitchen items. They always have loads of olive oil marked way down. I stock up every time I go there.

Vegan Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce

Serves 6 well

INGREDIENTS

2 cups red enchilada sauce (my recipe HERE) or your favorite brand or recipe

16 oz salsa – homemade or your favorite brand

olive oil

1 small butternut squash

1/2 medium red (or any other kind) onion – diced

1-3 jalapenos (optional) – seeded & diced

3 tomatoes – diced

2 carrots – diced

1 cup corn

1 12 oz can black beans – drained

1-4 garlic cloves – minced

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

15-20 taco-sized corn tortillas

Up to 1 lb grated vegan cheeses of your choice ( I used both cheddar & mozzarella)

S&P to taste

GARNISH: cilantro, sliced scallions, avocado slices, additional salsa or hot sauce

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 375.

I roasted my butternut squash unpeeled & halved. It was a sorta messy business doing it this way. In the future, I will peel & cube it first. Whatever you decide – roast it naked for 20-40 minutes, turning at least once, until it is soft. If you cooked it like I did – let it cool in the sink & peel & cube it once it is cool enough to handle. OR – you could peel, cube & boil it until the cubes are soft. I had a large squash – so I put some extra mashed up into my dogs’ dinner. They loved it!

Meanwhile, heat 1-2 TBS olive oil in a large saute pan & add the chopped carrots & onions. When they start to soften, add the tomatoes, jalapenos, corn & black beans. Add the spices & cilantro. Heat through. Add the garlic & saute 1 minute. Stir in the cubed squash. Season with S&P & set aside.

Now – assemble the casserole. Grease a casserole pan (I used cooking spray). Put the salsa on the bottom. The rest can be pretty random – as long as you end with 1/3 of the enchilada sauce & 1/3 of the cheese.