Decadent Vegetable Casserole

[shelley]

This is a great way to get more veggies into your diet, and since it's a complete meal in itself, a great timesaver.

If you're new to diet plans that make vegetables the main attraction rather than huge portions of meat, and aren't really sure whether you even like veggies, this dish is a perfect crossover. It's suitable for the maintenence or rebuilding stage but won't be good during cleansing, it's too rich - which is the fun of this dish!

You can also use this dish as a way to use up all your leftover veggies. If you made a salad or basic veggies or opened a bag of frozen and have leftovers, use them in this. Any combination of veggies will work with this. Add lima beans, peas or other legumes for additional protein if you like.

3 cups of assorted veggies, cooked or raw
2 cups milk
1/4 cup organic butter
2 slices of bread, cubed, or 3/4 cup of polenta, cubed (optional)
3/4 and 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese
3 free-range eggs, scrambled
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
Optional - extra flavor and pungent therapy to ensure the cheese gets digested:
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or 1 tablespoon mild green chili peppers
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon sage

Heat the milk and butter to melt it, add all spices. Take it off the heat and add veggies, 3/4 cup of cheese, breads if you're using them, eggs, stir well.

Add to greased casserole dish and cook at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese during last 10 minutes.

Let sit for 5 minutes to steam a bit, then serve!