Wild Rice Jackfruit Casserole with Vegan Parmesan-Panko Topping
5 from 2 votes
That Vegan Nephew
Shredded young jackfruit, combined with hearty wild rice, a creamy coconut base and verdant broccoli florets congregate together to create a lavish jackfruit casserole that's honestly hard to resist digging into. And when topped with panko breadcrumbs and Follow Your Heart vegan parm, baked and broiled to become a golden brown and crispy casserole stratosphere, the multitude tastes and textures - creamy, rich, crunchy, soft - truly make eating this casserole a joy, an experience and a bookmark-able, repeatable eat that really must not go unmade!
½cupFollow Your Heart Shredded Parmesan,(optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then, in a skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sauté the yellow onion and garlic for 3 - 5 minutes, until fragrant and beginning to soften.
Next, drain, rinse, and shred the canned young jackfruit well (emphasis on the young - you don't want old jackfruit in syrup - it's sweet). Discard any bits that are overly hard and don't shred easily by hand (such as the seeds and end bits). Once that's done, in a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded jackfruit with the coconut milk, cooked wild rice, broccoli florets, nutritional yeast, coconut yogurt, apple cider vinegar and salt, as well as the sautéed onion and garlic. Mix the ingredients together well.
Spread the mixture evenly in a 9x13 casserole dish, and cover it with aluminum foil. Bake the casserole covered for 35 - 45 minutes, or until the broccoli florets begin to turn a softer green and are more tender (poke 'em with a fork to test).
While the casserole is baking, in a small bowl combine the panko breadcrumbs with the olive oil, dried thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix it together with your fingers until the breadcrumbs begin to clump together. Remove the casserole from the oven once the broccoli florets are becoming tender (35 - 45 minutes), take off the foil, and sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the top, and then the ½ cup Follow Your Heart Parmesan in a similar fashion. Bake for another 10 - 15 minutes uncovered, until the broccoli florets are truly tender when poked with a fork.
Lastly, remove the casserole from the oven one last time, set your oven rack to a higher rung (about 6 - 8 inches from the top), and then return the casserole to the oven on broil, but only for about 1 - 2 minutes, until the breadcrumbs brown and the parmesan bubbles. After that, it's ready to eat.