Sunday Funday of Cooking, Meal 3: Vegan Butternut Squash Casserole Bake

After the Durham Art Walk, we were feeling pretty lazy and thought about just picking up Chipotle. But... we had all those vegetables from the farmers market and knew they were going to go bad over the week we were in Pittsburgh. This rather large endeavor resulted instead... we decided to use the butternut squash, huge white radish, asparagus, rosemary, jalapenos, and green peppers that we purchased from the farmers market. I had read that hummus can create a "creamy cheesy" texture in a casserole which is often missing in a vegan casserole. Also the combination of nutritional yeast and flax seed (yay for vegan omega-3!) can create a yummy crunchy texture. I decided to use quinoa as the base grain, rather than pasta or rice, for the the "nutty" flavor and the added nutritional value (its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest).
So this was a creative, ridiculously healthy, Ruchi-made combination that turned out surprisingly awesome!

Ingredients/Supplies

Large casserole dish and rice cooker
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch pieces (this is hard, and here is a video that explains how to cut it)
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 2 inch long pieces and with the white ends discarded
1 large white radish, peeled and shredded (this was easy with Eric's food processor!)
Green leafy top of radish, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, sliced and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups hummus (I used Costco purchased sun dried tomato hummus, but super garlicy hummus would be awesome here)
3 jalapenos, finely chopped
handful of basil (about 10 leaves), finely chopped
1 sprig of rosemary
1 cup dry quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
7 Tbsp nutritional yeast
7 Tbsp flax seed powder
7 Tbsp bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs from Trader Joe)
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano (or Italian seasoning mix that has oregano in it, which we got from Penzeys)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic powder
2 tsp salt

Preparation
-Preheat oven to 400 F
-Cook 1 cup dry quinoa in a rice cooker with 3 cups of water and a 1/4 tsp salt (it will come out a little watery, but that's OK because it will be further baked later)
-Mix together nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and flax seed powder in a small bowl and set aside.
-Place chopped vegetables in a large bowl, add vegetable broth, and toss/mix vegetables together.
-Spread a thin layer of olive oil on the casserole dish bottom and its walls
-Spread half of the cooked quinoa as a layer on the bottom of the dish
-Spread half of the vegetables and broth over the quinoa layer, make sure the vegetables are evenly and equally spread in this large layer
-Sprinkle evenly over vegetable layer: 1/4 tsp granulated garlic powder, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 the rosemary you removed from the sprig, 1/2 of your chopped jalapeno, 1/2 of your chopped basil.
-Spread a layer of hummus. Its not possible to actually spread an even layer, so use a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to take small amounts of 1 cup of hummus and spoon it in an evenly spaced pattern over the spiced vegetables.
-Sprinkle half of your nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and flax seed powder mixture over the hummus layer.
-Spread the rest of the cooked quinoa as a layer over the mixture
-Spread the rest of the vegetables and broth over the quinoa layer, make sure the vegetables are evenly and equally spread in this large layer
-Sprinkle evenly over vegetable layer: 1/4 tsp granulated garlic powder, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 the rosemary you removed from the sprig, 1/2 of your chopped jalapeno, 1/2 of your chopped basil.
-Spread a layer of hummus. Its not possible to actually spread an even layer, so use a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to take small amounts of 1 cup of hummus and spoon it in an evenly spaced pattern over the spiced vegetables.
-Sprinkle the rest of your nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and flax seed powder mixture over the hummus layer.
-Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and flatten the casserole with the back of a spatula, squishing the top layer of vegetables into the juicy/melty looking inside of the casserole. Bake for another 10 minutes.
-Remove from oven and let it cool for at least 5 minutes before serving!