A hearty, healthy vegan breakfast casserole—with hash brown potatoes, peppers, refried beans and corn tortillas—smothered in enchilada and cheese sauces.
Optional: Serve with chopped cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice
Instructions
Prepare your enchilada sauce (about 10 minutes) and your cheese sauce (about 5 minutes.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the diced bell and poblano peppers in a medium, microwave safe bowl with 3 tablespoons of water. Cover and heat in the microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until just beginning to get soft. (Or soften in a pan on the stovetop.) Drain the peppers and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, toss together the frozen hash brown potatoes and the peppers. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Ladle ½ cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Then place the 6 corn tortillas in the bottom of the dish over the sauce. They'll overlap a bit, which is ok.
Using a large spoon and/or your hands, spread the refried beans over the tortillas, pressing it gently into a nice even layer.
Spread the hash brown potato and pepper mixture evenly over the refried beans.
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the casserole, cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes, or until heated through.
Remove the casserole dish from oven, uncover, and pour the vegan cheese sauce evenly over the top. Use the back of a wooden spoon or a rubber scraper to gently spread it over the top of the dish, trying not to disturb the enchilada sauce too much. (See notes). Top with sliced green onion, cover and cook 10 more minutes or until everything is very hot.
Notes
Frozen hash brown potatoes. Look for a brand with no ingredients other than potatoes, including oil.
Peppers. This casserole is delicious with poblano pepper, but you can substitute any other relatively mild pepper of a similar size with great results.
Cheese sauce. To get a nice golden yellow top, you want to use a light touch when spreading the cheese sauce. It's okay if a bit of enchilada sauce mixes in, but the goal is the keep the cheese on top rather than mixing into the enchilada sauce.
Onions. To keep this recipe simple, I softened the peppers in the microwave. But if you really love onions, you could saute a whole yellow onion in a pan with the peppers, and mix that in with the hash browns.