meatless

squash enchilada casserole

►make ahead up to 12 hours

Prep: 35 minutes Chill: up to 12 hours Cook: 8 to 10 hours (low) or 4 to 5 hours + 50 minutes (high) Stand: 20 minutes Makes: 4 servings

  • 2 cups chopped, peeled, and seeded butternut squash or acorn squash
  • 1 15.5-ounce can hominy, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
  • ¾ cup chopped red sweet pepper (1 medium)
  • ½ cup salsa
  • 1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
  • 1 8.5-ounce package corn muffin mix
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño chile peppers (4 ounces)
  • ⅓ cup milk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  •   Sour cream and/or snipped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Place a disposable slow cooker liner in a 3½- or 4-quart ceramic slow cooker liner. Place squash, hominy, black beans, onion, sweet pepper, salsa, chile peppers, garlic, and salt in the disposable liner. Pour enchilada sauce over all. Using a twist tie, close the disposable liner. Place the ceramic liner in the refrigerator overnight. (To serve today, cover and cook as directed in Step 2.)

2. Place ceramic liner in the slow cooker. Remove the twist tie from the disposable liner. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

3. For dumplings, in a medium bowl stir together corn muffin mix, ½ cup of the cheese, milk, and egg; stir just until combined. If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Stir vegetable mixture. Spoon corn muffin batter on top of vegetable mixture in four to six mounds. Cover and cook for 50 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of dumplings comes out clean (do not lift cover during cooking).

4. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup cheese over dumplings. Turn off cooker. Let stand, uncovered, for 20 minutes before serving. If desired, serve with sour cream and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

Per serving: 660 cal., 23 g fat (10 g sat. fat), 91 mg chol., 2,276 mg sodium, 95 g carb., 16 g fiber, 25 g pro.

Tip

Supermarkets increasingly cater to busy cooks. Cut-up vegetables, such as butternut squash, are packaged and ready to use.