Vegetable Casserole
Even though vegetarian cuisine is one of the healthiest ones there are, some people still refuse to eat vegetarian food. For one, they don’t want to lose the practicality of industrialized food that can be prepared in a few minutes. While that is indeed fast, they are basically ingesting chemicals and food that lacks the nutrients that they need.
Other people don’t want to change to vegetarian food because they believe it to be tasteless and raw, and fit only for salads. They may also think that the lack of meat prevents vegetarian dishes from becoming full meals.
These ideas are, of course, erroneous, and they come from images on TV and commercials that glorify industrialized food. Once people get to eat real vegetarian food, they change their opinion about it. Even if they decide not to go fully to a vegetarian lifestyle, they will consider vegetarian dishes for their meals.
There are quite a few vegetarian dishes that are easy to do, yet they are very tasty and give a complex look when served. My favorite one is vegetable casserole. My grandma used to prepare vegetable casserole from time to time (and she wasn’t even a vegetarian), and I used to love it. She taught my mother how to prepare vegetable casserole and she, in turn, taught me when I was old enough to cook.
I guess what sells the vegetable casserole to non vegetarians is the freshness of the vegetables, as well as the consistency and flavor of the cheese. Since a lot of the repulsion that some people have against vegetarian food comes from TV images, watching the cheese stretching will make the dish seem “cooked.”
Of course, image wouldn’t mean anything if the flavor wasn’t there to back the dish up. The vegetable casserole combines the flavor of vegetables and cheese into a mix that is tasty, soft, and crunchy at the same time. Of course, the exact flavor will depend on the type of cheese and vegetables that you prepare your vegetable casserole with. I use carrots, corn, green peas, green beans, and onions, but you can use pretty much any vegetable that you like. Don’t be afraid to experiment either. Some of the best vegetable casseroles I’ve made were mistakes that turned out to be great.
Finally, for better results, prepare your vegetable casserole with fresh vegetables that you bought on the same day. Stay away from canned or frozen vegetables. They will make a mediocre vegetable casserole at best.