Vegetable-Heavy Potluck Casseroles

I always think of myself as a cook rather than a baker, but in fact my oven gets fired up almost every day, and that's especially true during these cold months when the warmth and aroma of baking feels like an extra special hug.

When we moved into this home over a year ago, I had to make friends with a new-to-me oven that had been put into the kitchen by the previous home-owners. For one thing, this cooking range has an electric range rather than the gas range that I was used to in St. Louis. This made my heart sink a little bit, I'll admit. But I have come to love how energy-efficient this range is- a big pot of water for pasta comes to a boil in mere minutes, and the surface holds heat so well that I can turn off the heat and let food simmer just in the residual heat.

This oven is quite a bit fancier than any I've used and one of the features is the convection baking mode. As it understand it, convection baking utilizes fans inside the oven to circulate the air, cooking food more evenly and efficiently. But the airflow also tends to dry out the food more than a normal (conventional) oven would.


For almost a year, I ignored this feature- not wanting to risk a dish not coming out right. Then I remembered that I've used a convection oven in the Campus Kitchen where I volunteered once upon a time. It roasted vegetables in record time. That's just it- I would try the convection setting for roasting trays of veggies. It is hard to mess that up! It worked like a dream; a large half-sheet of sweet potatoes, say, are tender and browned in about 15-20 minutes as against the usual 40-45.

I am convinced that roasting converts vegetables to candy- I can barely stop eating them right off the baking sheet. We enjoy them as a side dish and in the last 2 weeks, I also use them in three casseroles that were my contributions to various holiday potluck gatherings. These are ideas rather than strict recipes!

Lentil Sweet Potato Pilaf

This was inspired by a surplus of sweet potatoes bought on sale after Thanksgiving and the need to use them up fast. Lentils and sweet potatoes are a wonderful combination and as comforting as you can get.

There are 4 components to this dish:
1. Cook Basmati rice in the rice cooker until it is tender and fluffy.

2. Roast cubes of sweet potato tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper in a 375F oven until tender and slightly browned.

3. Make a lentil curry: Saute onions, ginger and garlic. Add soaked brown lentils (whole masoor), salt, turmeric, red chili powder, biryani masala/garam masala, tomato (optional) and cook until the lentils are tender. You don't want this curry to be as thin as dal but not too dry either.

4. The extras: fried onions (freshly pan-fried or store-bought), minced cilantro.

In a greased casserole, layer these 4 components, biryani-style. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Serve warm.

The next two recipes use white sauce/ bechamel sauce. To make white sauce:

1. Heat 2 tbsp. butter in a heavy pan. 
2. When it foams, add 2 tbsp. all purpose flour and stir it around to a paste.
3. Let the flour bubble gently getting a little toasty but not too dark.
4. Whisk in 2 cups hot milk, stir, bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Off the heat, stir in 1 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. 

PS: I edited the white sauce on Dec. 21, 2013. I'd forgotten to include the cheese!

Vegetable Gratin

My mother made baked vegetables all the time when we were growing up- it would be the special "continental dish" at her parties and very popular with the family friends.

I made my version by roasting 1 tray of cauliflower florets and pepper slices with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper: Carrot, broccoli, green beans, and corn and peas would be nice additions as well. I scraped the roasted veggies into a baking dish and poured in the white sauce. Then I scattered a topping of breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan. Broiled the dish until the top was blackened browned and you're done. Note that you have to watch the broiler like a hawk. Being distracted by toddlers leads to what you see in that picture up there. Still delicious, once you pick off the carbonized breadcrumbs.

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

This is a great way to lighten up mac and cheese a little while also making it tastier, in my opinion. I used caulflower here but one could also use broccoli- the added advantage of using broccoli is that the florets look like little trees and you can call the dish "macaroni and trees" to the delight of your pun-loving friends.

Here, I cooked a box of tri-color rotini (any short pasta will do). Then I tossed it with a tray of roasted cauliflower and the white sauce. Pour it into a baking dish or two, top and broil as above and viola. Kids are all over this dish, by the way.

All three of these potluck dishes were crowd-pleasers and I'm sure to make them again and again, especially now that roasting vegetables is so quick.

I'm usually careful not to over-schedule myself but I've really blown it this week with 1 holiday dinner, 2 potluck parties, 1 cookie exchange/neighborhood party, 1 ballet to attend. Also,1 meeting and 1 presentation at work, 1 vet check-up and 1 pediatrician check-up. Not a moment to lose! We have friends coming over to spend the holidays with us and I can barely contain my excitement.

I'll be back at the end of the month with The List for December 2013. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, friends.