Asparagus & Chickpea Casserole

First cooking post in Victoria! I've made a few dishes since moving in, but each time I kept forgetting to take photos. So tonight I made the vegan and easily made gluten-free Asparagus and Chickpea Casserole. This is one of my go-to hearty dishes that is fairly simple to make without any super crazy ingredients. I find it filling but not overly so, and with a lot of great nutrients. 

I didn't have a casserole dish, as this recipe calls for, but it baked fine in a 9x13 dish for 35 minutes with some frozen hash browns. 

Weird Canadian hash browns are weird. I used cubed hash browns this time, but I usually use shredded-- thinner hash browns work better for this recipe I've found out.

Tools of the trade

Clemens doesn't know what nutritional yeast is, and you might not, either! It is NOT brewer's yeast or baking yeast-- it's actually a fungus that has a lot of vitamin B12. Great for any veggie cooking!

Jon likes to call it "asparagross." 

Chickpeas! 

Herbs, asparagus, mushrooms, sauce, oh my!

4 minutes left! Mr. Clemens was getting impatient.

Just because it ain't pretty doesn't mean that it doesn't taste good!

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces asparagus, ends trimmed and stalks cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable broth 

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup vegetable broth

3/4 cup unsweetened soymilk or other non-dairy milk (I used sweetened with no taste difference)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoon nutritional yeast 

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes (or 5-8 ounces raw potato, shredded) 

smoked paprika, for garnish

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil or spray a 2-3 quart casserole dish (or 9x13 pan).

2. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Give it a quick drop of oil, if desired, and add the onions. Cook until onions soften, 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until mushrooms exude their juices. Add the asparagus and two tablespoons of vegetable broth, cover pan, and cook for another 2-3 minutes until asparagus is bright green and beginning to become tender.

3. Whisk the flour into the cup of vegetable broth. Add it, the milk, nutritional yeast, thyme, and basil and heat until bubbly. Add the chickpeas and salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. 
4. Pour into prepared casserole dish and top with an even layer of potatoes. Sprinkle potatoes with salt, if desired, and smoked paprika.
5. Bake until casserole is bubbly and top is lightly browned, 25-45 minutes (frozen potatoes will take longer than fresh). If top does not completely brown, place it under the broiler for a few seconds.

Recipe credit goes to Fat Free Vegan.