Casserole Heaven

Well I imagine most of my west coast readers are as far from wanting to whip up a casserole in their kitchen as they have ever been. However, we made this one on the barbecue. Didn't see that one coming did you.

I was feeling like we needed to eat vegetarian again but wasn't feeling much like the usual standards. So I decided to make a potato casserole. I started by gently sauteeing half a medium onion and five medium sized chopped up mushrooms. I put three cloves of garlic through my little presser and put those in too. Once they were all sweaty and starting to brown I added more oil. Then I took a quarter cup of flour and sprinkled a bunch of it on. After mixing added some milk and kept mixing. Back and forth between flour and milk until I had maybe two cups of sauce. I finished with salt, pepper and cumin to taste. It wasn't all that thick but had some good consistency and was quite flavourful.

Then in a big roasting pan I oiled the bottom lightly and put down a first layer of scalloped potatoes. Next I added sliced carrots followed by zuchinnin, broccoli, a tiny bit of cottage cheese ( I would have used more but that was all we had left) and then another layer of potatoes. On top of this layer I added some grated mozzarella (you know, its for kids). After it was all done I poured the sauce over everything. In no way did the sauce come close to covering everythnig but seeing as that wasn't my goal it was okay.

I covered the whole deal with tinfoil and put it on the barbecue. With all three burners on low I left it in there for an hour. Our grill didn't get above 350 with all three burners on and I think that was just about right. I would have loved to grill it for about five minutes at the end to crisp up the top but that will have to wait for a cooler day.

The wife added a mixed green salad with some red onion and vinegar dressing. Vegetarian rides again. I gotta tell you, I feel so good the day after eating vegetarian. Hoping to get up to four nights a week.

Otherwise it was a warm day. We gardened, watched videos, went to the library and are going for the after dinner swim. I mean, it is thursday.