Veggie Tamale Pie

I bought a cooking magazine last week. I got my mom a subscription for Christmas because she had talked about going to a library sale and picking up tons of cookbooks, but she decided not to buy any of them, because they are all online. My thought was sure, everything is online, but you have to go find it. Sometimes it's just easier to have something bring ideas to you.

I bought Vegetarian Times. No, I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat. So it seemed great. What is even better about this magazine is it had an index that categorizes each recipe. There are categories like 30 minutes, easy, and as a bonus -- gluten-free.

The editors are very aware of the gluten-free label. As I was looking at various recipes, I thought, well that shouldn't have gluten in it. But on closer look, the recipe had soy sauce in it, which does have gluten. It is easily replaced with gluten-free soy sauce, but it was also very nice to see recipes that are gluten-free without any specially purchased ingredients.

Last weekend I tried out the Veggie Tamale Pie. I took it to a party, and all my friends really enjoyed it. Besides tasting good, it is basically a pantry recipe, and the magazine had it as a freezer casserole. It can be stored up to a month and cooked straight from the freezer.

There are a few changes I will make next time, so here is my version (although it is deeply indebted to Vegetarian Times.)

Tamale Pie

1/2 cup dry corn grits

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus extra

1 tsp vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 15-oz can black beans

1 1.45-oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 tsp brown rice flour

(I would also say that you could replace the spices with a tbs or so of taco seasoning.)

Make the topping, bring 2 cups water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in the grits and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 30 min and add the cheese.

In the meantime,

Heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic. Add the zucchini, bell pepper and spices.

Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and corn.

Mix the rice flour with 1/4 cup water, add to the bean mixture. Cook until thickens slightly.

Spread bean mixture in an 8-inch baking pan, cover with the grits, sprinkle on a little cheese, and cook at 375.