Vegan Taco Casserole

I haven't made a vegan casserole before, and I admit that despite the promises on this blog, I was apprehensive about serving this. In fact, I was so worried about it that I told my kids that they didn't need to try it if they wanted to stick to the leftover clean-up dinner we were doing.

But, this was REALLY good! Like I didn't think a casserole without dairy could be this good. I realized that I did do a few things to clear out the fridge that ended up working in my favor so I wanted to record them here.

This recipe is from Joy Shull at Build Your Bite. My notes are in italics.

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, chopped
I added a yellow bell pepper because I needed to use it
7 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder I did more like a tablespoon
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne I didn't have cayenne so I sauteed a seeded and diced jalapeno pepper instead with the onions
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika I did more like a teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can of great northern beans, drained
I had about 2 pounds of pinto beans I had cooked in the pressure cooker that needed to be used and I was too lazy to make into refried beans, so I used these in place of the beans listed above.
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 1/2 cups chunky salsa I used my homemade salsa because I had it on-hand.
14 oz organic yellow tortilla corn chips, plus more for serving
Lime juice for topping
Green onions for topping

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine onion, peppers, garlic, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, basil, cayenne, smoked paprika, sea salt, and pepper in a skillet and cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and starts to brown. I cooked the onions on low heat for a little bit to help them caramelize a bit. I also added a lot more of all the spices.

Add black and great northern beans to onion mixture and stir well. After adding the beans to the first saute, I was excited. Those beans were great on their own!

Using a 13 by 9 glass baking dish, first put down a layer of tortilla chips to cover the bottom of the pan. I did this all in the cast iron skillet that I sauteed everything in.

Layer half of the bean mixture onto the chips, followed by 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, and 1 1/4 cups of salsa.

Add another layer of chips and cover with remaining beans, nutritional yeast and salsa.

Cover top of dish with a layer of crushed corn chips. Lazy: I did half the beans, then, the chips, salsa, and yeast; other half of beans with the rest of the salsa, chips, and yeast.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until chips on top start to brown.

Top with fresh lime juice and green onions. I didn't have lime juice, but I did have cilantro and green onions. I thought this was really good as is, but I did need to use up some sour cream, so Nate and I had that on top.

Serve with additional tortilla chips to build the perfect bite.
Enjoy!
The recipe said it makes 4-5 servings; I think it's closer to 6-7.