I was looking through my foodie apps on my phone to meal plan this week and found this Tu-no Noodle Casserole on my Forks Over Knives app. It’s something I haven’t found in forever, and something I never really craved but it’s a change! Forks Over Knives is a great resource for plant based meals and you can look on their website or get the app. It was a film and had a corresponding book that’s a NY times best seller for helping people regain control of their health and reverse diseases through plant based diet. All of the recipes are healthy and you can feel good about eating them so that’s somewhere I like to look for inspiration. This looked tasty so I used it and of course did my usual tweaking.
Here’s the original followed by my version.

Original recipe: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-tuna-casserole-recipe/#gs.Il53k=U

My Tu-No Noodle Casserole

For the Sauce:

• 2½ cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 sheet nori
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• salt to taste

FOR THE BASE:

• 1 bag of whole wheat rotini
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 2½ cups)
• 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup green peas (frozen)
• 3 cups cooked garbanzo beans (or two 15-ounce cans, drained)

1. Preheat oven to 375* and soak cashews in hot water for 10 minutes.
2. Saute onions and mushrooms while the pasta boils.
3. In your food processor, pulse the chickpeas until they’re flaky. If you don’t have a food processor, use a potato masher.
4. Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
5. Pour sauce into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer until sauce is thick.
6. Add pasta back to the stock pot and then add in the mushrooms, onions, peas, chickpeas, and sauce then combine.
7. Add to a 9×13 casserole pan and top with a little more black pepper.
8. Cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes until it starts turning golden brown on top.