The ugliest tastiest casserole ever

This recipe is from 101 cookbooks (recipe). It is lima beans and chard with a chipolte tomato sauce, topped with vegan mozarella, toasted breadcrumbs and a cilantro pesto. The cilantro pesto was drizzled over the top at the end and looks pretty ugly up there on top of the casserole, but it was the best part of the dinner. The tomato sauce was a bit spicy but then I'd get a bit of a sweet garlicky cilanto pesto and it was the perfect balance. The vegan cheese gave it the creaminess that it needed.



Here is a picture of the casserole before I added the breadcrumbs:



And after the breadcrumbs and cilantro pesto:



I am going to repost the recipe here because I had to make some modifications to the directions to veganize it.

Giant Chipotle White Beans Recipe

1 pound of large, dried white beans (corona, giant limas, gigantes, or any giant white beans you can find), rinsed, picked over and soaked overnight - or up to 24 hours.

Chipotle-tomato sauce:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 big pinches of red pepper flakes
2 pinches of salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers

Cilantro Pesto:
1 medium clove of garlic
1/3 cup fresh cilantro (you may need more)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
big pinch of salt

1 bunch chard, washed, de-stemmed, and very finely chopped
1/2 block Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella, grated

1 1/2 cup whole-grain breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp olive oil

To prepare the beans. Drain and rinse the beans after their overnight soak. Then place them in a large saucepan and cover with an inch or two of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the beans are cooked through and just tender. This can take anywhere from an hour to two hours (potentially more) depending on your beans, but do your best to avoid overcooking. Remove from heat, salt the beans (still in bean broth) with about a tablespoon of salt - enough that the bean liquid is tasty but on the salty side. Let the beans sit like this for ten minutes or so before draining and setting the beans aside.

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.

In the meantime, make your tomato sauce. Place the 2 tablespoons olive oil, red pepper flakes, couple pinches of salt, oregano and chopped garlic into a cold medium saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute just 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant - you don't want the garlic to brown. Stir in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer, this takes just a couple minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the adobo sauce - carefully take a taste ...If the sauce needs more salt add it now, more chipotle flavor? Go for it. Set aside.

Toss breadcrumbs and oil and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 5-10 minutes until bread crumbs are toasty. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a 9x13 baking pan toss the beans with the tomato sauce and the chard (just use your hands for this). Sprinkle with the cheese, cover with foil, and bake in the top-third of the oven for roughly 25-30 minutes (make the cilantro pesto while baking - see below). Pull back the foil to see if the cheese is melted. Remove from oven when the cheese is melted and add the breadcrumbs. Cook uncovered for about 5-10 minutes. Careful not to burn the breadcrumbs. Remove from oven and let sit for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, make the cilantro pesto. Combine the clove of garlic and cilantro in a food processor. Pulse or run food processor while you drizzle in the olive oil. Season with a bit of salt and set aside.

Just before serving drizzle with the cilantro pesto.

Serves about 6.