Cornbread Veggie Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Saute on med-high heat using olive oil:

1 large onion-diced
3-4 sweet peppers-sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
3 cups of ½ inch, cubed summer squash meat (no seeds please, and peel if skin is tough)

Option 1: roasted, cubed egg plant (don’t use raw or it will make the casserole soggy)

Option 2: Corn off the cob: add 2-3 ears of corn kernels, cut from the cob, to the saute at the end

Option 3: Cabbage

Be certain to cook off most of the moisture until you have a nice glaze on the saute.

You can season this veggie mix with :

Italian seasoning: basil, oregano, thyme…
Mexican: cumin, chipotle pepper…. Add hot pepper to the saute too.

Leave the saute in the frying pan so it can be reheated as required before assembling the casserole. You might have to reheat it right before adding it to the 9x13 casserole.

Mix cornbread together

This comes from my old, More With Less, cookbook.

In a large bowl:

2 cups cornmeal
2 cups flour (your choice)
2 Tb plus 2 tsp Baking Powder (I like to sift this into the dry ingredients to avoid clumps)
1 tsp sea salt
3 Tb brown sugar

Stir dry ingredients together with a whisk.

Sometimes I have this staged ahead of time when dinner prep time is squeezed.

In a smaller bowl whisk together:

4 eggs
2 cups milk
½ cup oil (I tend to use olive oil, though I’m sure melted butter would be scrumptious.)

Pour wet ingredients over the dry and gently incorporate them until smooth. Don’t over mix please.

Quickly reheat the veg saute--

so it’s nice and hot and spread into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.
You could add 2 cups of shredded cheese at this layer but it’s not necessary.
Immediately spoon the cornbread mixture on top.

The bottom mixture must be hot to make sure the cornbread cooks properly.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. The best way to determine when cornbread is done is using a digital thermometer. Insert it into the cornbread, not the vegetable filling at the bottom. It should read around 204-205 in the center. It might be hotter on the edges. It might need an extra 5 minutes to get there depending on your oven.

When the cornbread comes out of the oven :

Poke holes in it with a wooden skewer.

Let chunks of butter melt into the holes.

This is a great option at potlucks so each serving is already buttered and folks can enjoy the surprise at the bottom.

I use the convection fan when baking cornbread.

Serve hot.

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