I have a tiny obsession with purple potatoes. They are so pretty! And they taste good (because… potato) and have more nutrients than an average white or yellow potato.
Tonight, as I looked through the fridge, I decided that I wanted to do something with the purple potatoes, the broccoli, the baby bella mushrooms, and some vegan bacon. So, I did! This recipe would be really easy to “un-vegan” if you wanted to make it for omnivores!
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 package of vegan bacon, sliced into 1/3 inch slices (I used SweetEarth Benevolent Bacon – post not sponsored – I purchased this via Imperfect Foods – my link)
- 1 large or 2 small onions, sliced thinly
- 1 pint of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 8-12 purple potatoes, sliced thinly
- 1/2 to 1 cup of vegan cheese shreds (I used Follow Your Heart)
- 2 large heads broccoli, cut with 1/2 of stem remaining on the florets – you can absolutely skip the broccoli if you aren’t feeling it!
Process
- Drizzle some olive oil into a LARGE skillet.
- Sauté the bacon until nice and crispy and either push to the side of the skillet (away from most of the heat) or set aside.
- Sauté the onions in the same pan, which now has some of the bacon flavoring. Add a little more olive oil or cooking spray as needed. Allow to cook until soft and beginning to caramelize. Either push to the side by the bacon or set aside.
- Sauté the mushrooms until cooked well and maybe even a bit crispy in parts.
- Now put the onions, bacon, and mushrooms all in a bowl or two because it’s potato time.
- Start your oven preheating to 375*
- This next part is time consuming, I admit, but I think it made it better. If you want to skip this step, you probably could.
- Put 1 layer of potato slices in the skillet and cook on each side until they brown and crisp up some. Repeat until all potatoes are done.
- Using a 9×13 casserole pan, layer potatoes, onions, bacon, mushrooms twice. If you have people in your house who won’t eat mushrooms, like I do, you can cook them off to one side of the pan. They will still take on some bacon flavor and add a little umami to the rest of the dish. And then the mushroom lovers get all of them!
- Add your broccoli florets on top in a layer. Spray lightly with cooking spray or olive oil.
- Chuck the whole thing in the oven and let it cook until the broccoli is done. This may take about 30-40 minutes. I put a pan of water next to the casserole to generate a little steam and help keep the broccoli from getting too crispy.
This was voted an A+ by all members of the household, and that’s saying something! So, we’ll be doing it again.