Description

This cheesy vegan broccoli, quinoa, and white bean bake is a healthy vegan meal that’s big on flavour and satisfaction factor!

Ingredients

Scale

Vegan Sweet Potato Tahini Cheese Sauce

4 heaping cups peeled and cubed sweet potato (from 2–3 medium sweet potatoes)
2 cups water
2/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 medium garlic cloves
1 tsp fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Quinoa

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Vegetables and Beans

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 medium cloves of garlic, minced
3 celery ribs, diced
1 bunch of broccoli, chopped into florets
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili flakes
3 cups cooked white beans (or 2 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed- I used navy beans, but great northern and cannellini also work)

Sunflower Seed Parmesan

1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 scant tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder

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Instructions

Make the Vegan Sweet Potato Tahini Cheese Sauce: Steam the sweet potato until tender. Once cool enough to handle, transfer to a blender and add the water, nutritional yeast, tahini, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth, adding a bit more water if needed. The sauce should be on the thicker side, but not so thick that it isn’t pourable. Pour the sauce into a container until ready to use.
Cook the quinoa: Combine the rinsed and drained quinoa, water, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, stir, and cover. Cook for 15 minutes, remove from the heat, and fluff with a fork.
Cook the vegetables: Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook for a few minutes, until lightly browned. Add the celery, broccoli, smoked paprika, chili flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. (I added a couple pinches of salt and 20 twists of pepper.) Cook until the broccoli is bright green. Finally, add the white beans and cooked quinoa. Stir to combine.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish, a cast iron skillet, or a round casserole dish with olive oil.
Make the Sunflower Seed Parmesan: Add the sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder to a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade and process until a coarse powder forms. (Be careful not to over-process- this happened to me once and I ended up with cheesy sunflower seed butter!) Transfer into a container or jar.
Assemble the casserole: Pour 3 1/2 cups of the cheese sauce over the quinoa/bean mixture and stir to coat. Transfer it into the prepared baking dish and top with 2/3 cup of the sunflower seed parmesan.
Bake for 20 minutes and let it cool for a couple of minutes before serving. I love topping it with hot sauce and sliced avocado.

Notes

There will be extra cheese sauce and sunflower seed parmesan. Both are delicious on pasta, burritos, and bowls!

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Category: Supper
Method: Bake
Cuisine: North American

Keywords: vegan quinoa casserole, nut free vegan cheese sauce, quinoa broccoli bean bake