One of our favorite things to do is to take a classic recipe and adapt it to our dietary needs. The key is to find great products to make thFor at happen and not hurt the taste!

Summer is such a great time for vegetables and shopping at the Farmer’s Market! We love sneaking in a quick visit or two, and for all of the other times we use Instacart! Have you tried it yet? Y’all! Between Instacart, Amazon Prime, and Walmart pick up, we save so much time and can give back to our families! Life-changing! If you haven’t tried these services, you most certainly need to!

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For this recipe, I wanted to try making one of my favorite summer casseroles….Summer Squash Casserole, but I needed to make it gluten and dairy free so my entire family could eat it. The original is delicious, too….and ooooooey-goooooooey with cheese!

First, start with delicious fresh squash, zucchini, sweet onion, and a ripe summer tomato! You will also need butter, cream cheese, sharp shredded cheese, and crackers!

Begin by spraying your casserole dish with a vegetable spray so it is easier to clean later and preheat your oven to 400 degrees! Then chop up all of the vegetables in thin slices! I love to layer them in almost like a ratatouille! It is visually appealing and actually pretty therapeutic! Anyone else get this much joy out of cooking??? I usually do….if I can find the time, and I always particularly love adding a glass of wine and some light tunes! Do you have a favorite chill playlist?? Comment below with some of your favs! I love finding current, classic tunes that have been re-recorded in a slower, almost coffee-shop speed and feel! They are so fun and unexpected….but also chill!

Okay…I went away for a mental minute….I’m back!

For this recipe, the right “nut cheese” was the key to nailing the flavor! I am a HUGE fan of Kite Hill cheeses! Their cream cheese is almond milk based, and it tastes just like cream cheese! For this recipe, I chose their chive flavor! Yum!! I mixed it with the Lisante Foods Almond Cheddar Style Cheese! So Yummy and tastes like cheddar! After mixing, I added about half of the mixture on top of the veggies! Then I repeated the steps…veggies + cheese mixture!

The next part is fun to include the kids! I am a huge, huge, huge fan of Simple Mills almond crackers…the rosemary flavor is a personal fav….even my husband gives two thumbs up! For this recipe I used the classic flavor. I added about a cup-ish of these crackers to a small baggie and then let my kids “gently” smash them with a meat mallet. The consistency is up to you. I prefer mine not totally powdered, but you might…haha! Tip: if you have marble or granite counters, you might do the pounding on a cutting board. :):)(You’ve been warned! :):):):)) Dump the crumbled crackers over the casserole, and then melt a couple of tablespoons of butter alternative…we use Earth Balance soy free….and then pour that over the top!

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until a light golden brown on the top!

The almond cheese does not always melt to the same ooey-gooey-ness that cow’s milk reaches, but it tastes ah-mazing!! Serve immediately!

 

dairy-free & gluten-free summer squash casserole

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• Two summer ripe tomatoes
• Two zucchini squash
• Two yellow squash
• One sweet onion…two if you really like onion
• One package of Kite Hill almond cream cheese
• One package of dairy-free cheddar cheese
• Almond crackers
• Dairy-free butter
• Vegetable spray

Begin by spraying your 1.5 quart casserole dish with a vegetable spray and preheat your oven to 400 degrees! Then chop up all of the vegetables in thin slices! Alternate layers of vegetables in a circle pattern. Use half of the chopped veggies.

Mix cream cheese with the shredded cheddar cheese. Spoon about about half of the mixture on top of the veggies! Then repeat layering the veggies + the cheese mixture.

Add about a cup-ish of the almond crackers to a small baggie and crush to an almost powder consistency with a meat mallet. Dump the crumbled crackers over the casserole, and then melt a couple of tablespoons of butter alternative to pour over the top of your casserole!

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until a light golden brown on the top, and serve immediately!

Yum!! Enjoy!!

 

tools used to make this recipe:

 

 

 

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