Enchilada Casserole, Vegetarian or Vegan

Prep Time

20 Minutes

Cooking Time

45 minutes

Yields

8 – 10 servings

Prep Notes

You can use a vegan cheese replacement or if you want to make it vegetarian, and not vegan, use a good quality cheddar cheese.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil (and a little bit more for oiling dish)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 large, or 2 small, zucchini, sliced thin
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages tempeh, crumbled
  • 1 pouch Siete taco seasoning
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 (15 ounce) can organic black beans, drained
  • 1 (4 oz) can chopped Ortega chilies
  • 2 cups frozen organic corn, defrosted
  • 1 – 2 tsp chipotle powder (optional – if you want it a little spicy)
  • 1 jar Siete enchilada sauce or make your own
  • 9 – 12 Organic corn tortillas, (see how many you need, depending on the size of the tortillas)
  • 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, or for a stronger flavor, use kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
  • Cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside.
  2. In a large pan, sauté garlic, onion, and red pepper in olive oil for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add zucchini and sauté a couple of minutes more.
  4. Add crumbled tempeh, taco seasoning, water, and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat.
  5. Mix in beans, Ortega chilis, corn, and chipotle powder (if using.)
  6. Pour enchilada sauce into a shallow bowl.
  7. Dip three tortillas in enchilada sauce and place them in the prepared baking dish. Be sure to cover bottom of the dish as completely as possible.
  8. Place 1/2 of the tempeh/bean/veggie mixture on top of the tortillas, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.
  9. Dip another 3 tortillas in sauce and repeat layer.
  10. Place last 3 tortillas on top.
  11. Drizzle remaining sauce over the casserole, sprinkle with olives.
  12. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheese and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is melted.
  13. Serve, garnished with cilantro.

NOTES –

I don’t usually use store-bought vegan cheese and so sometimes I will make this with regular cheddar cheese OR I will make a vegan “cheddar cheese”. If you make the cheddar cheese it will not get as bubbly as the store-bought cheese.

I am not adding any salt to this recipe because I feel like the seasonings, the cheese and the olives have enough salt. You might want to add salt at the table if you feel like it doesn’t have enough.