I can't believe this dish is vegan! Even my meat-loving dad really liked this Kale and Spinach Gratin.
Over on Pinterest, I found Rosewater & Thyme's recipe for Kale Gratin, and I was so mesmerized by Shelley's beautiful photos that I had to make this dish. Plus, as you all all know, I'm a kale addict, so anything with kale, I'm putting it into my mouth.
At this week's local farmer's market, I found a bunch of kale for $1. Yes, I got a whole bunch of kale for $1. That's Walmart pricing! Good deals on fresh local produce can be found.
I put a couple of my own twists into Shelley's recipe because:
- I'm trying to get my dad to eat more greens, and he's not warmed to straight kale yet. He likes spinach, so I decided to add spinach as a transition food into kale dishes.
- I remember loving gratins because of the cheesey goodness, but because of my allergies to dairy, I cannot eat those lovely cow cheeses anymore. However, Daiya Foods has changed all that for many like me with their new Wedges. I LOVE their Jalapeno Garlic Havarti Wedge which is so tasty and melts heavenly. Remember my roasted tomato and basil grilled cheese sandwich?
Let's make some gratin!
Follow Shelley's recipe, except instead of two bunches of kale, use one bunch of kale and one clamshell of spinach. I used Fresh Express Organic Baby Spinach.
Because we're using the Havarti, you won't need to use the nutritional yeast. The yeast is used to give the gratin a cheesy flavoring.
For breadcrumbs, I slathered one piece of Sprouted Wheat Bread like Alvarado Street Bakery California Style Protein Bread or Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread on both sides with Earth Balance Soy-free buttery spread and sprinkled one side of the bread with a little garlic salt, then toasted the bread in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 minutes until the bread was hard. I pulverized the toast in a food processor to make the crumbs.
To make the vegan bechamel sauce:
- 2 tbsp Earth Balance Soy-free Buttery Spread
- 2 tbsp Organic unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 2tbsp Rice milk
- 3 tbsp Daiya Jalapeno Garlic Havarti*
- 2 pinches of Salt
- 3 shakes of Ground black pepper
- 1 tiny pinch of Nutmeg**
*You can add a little more Havarti but the Jalapeno starts to make the sauce spicy hot.
**Nutmeg can quickly take over the sauce so, I added just a tiny pinch.
- Over medium heat in a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add in the flour to make a roux. Whisk with a fork until the roux becomes a golden brown color.
- Slowly add in the rice milk, continuing to whisk the sauce as you pour so there are no lumps.
- Add in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and continue to whisk until you have a nice smooth thick sauce.
- Add in the havarti and continue to whisk your sauce until all of the havarti has melted.
- Set the sauce to the side to cool until you are ready to pour the sauce into your kale and spinach.
If you try making this Kale and Spinach Gratin, let me know how it turned out. Enjoy!
