A Child's Portion: "Tuna" Noodle Casserole

Another childhood favourite for my husband is tuna noodle casserole.  I found this recipe in my Vegetarian Family Cookbook and thought I would try it out.  With a few adaptions it turned out pretty good!  The kids really liked it and I managed to forget about the fact that I had used mushrooms in it.  It's kind of a running joke that I'm the worst vegetarian in the world because I don't like mushrooms or eggplant and when you request a vegetarian meal it is almost ALWAYS a combination of those two things.  I served this dish with scalloped broccoli and some steamed carrots.  This picture is of my oldest daughter's plate because she thought it was only fair that I shared her meal for once :)

"Tuna" Noodle Casserole

1 box pasta (I only had bowtie), boiled to al dente

 1 package baked tofu*-finely diced

2 tbsp butter

1 chopped onion

4 stalks chopped celery

1 cup minced mushrooms

2 cups milk

3 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

2-3 sliced scallions 

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup shredded cheese

wheat germ

*I didn't buy pre-baked tofu, I just pressed a block of firm tofu and sliced it into 4, marinated it in braggs and nutritional yeast and baked it for 30 minutes.

*Heat the butter in a saucepan, and saute onion until soft

*Add celery and cook for 4 minutes, add mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes

*Pour 1 1/2 cups of milk into saucepan and bring to a simmer.

*Combine flour and remaining milk, and add slowly to saucepan, stirring constantly until thickened

*In a large bowl combine pasta, peas, tofu, scallions and milk mixture

*Pour into a well oiled 9x13 casserole dish.  Cover with wheat germ and cheese.

*Bake at 350 for 40 minutes