Chickpea Broccoli Casserole

I posted about this casserole recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance way back when we first started this blog. In fact that post garnered our first negative comment (thankfully the negative comments have generally been few and far between). I admit my photography skills were somewhat lacking back then. In fact they're still less than stellar and this isn't the most photogenic dish either but it sure does taste good. I can't believe it's taken us so long to go back to it. It bakes for an hour but it's fairly quick to throw together so it can make a decent weeknight meal.

Start by draining 3 cans of chickpeas then mashing them well in a large bowl. Add a chopped onion, some diced chives, 3 grated carrots and chopped broccoli (I used frozen this time and it came out fine). Mix in 1/2 c. bread crumbs, 3 Tbs. olive oil, 1 cup veggie broth and 1 tsp. salt. Spread this mixture in a baking dish, cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes then uncover and bake another 15 minutes. It's a great one dish meal as is but this time I bumped it up a little and added 1 tsp. of smoked paprika (my new favorite seasoning). One change I might make next time would be to sauté the onions first but it saves time putting them in there raw. We served it garnished with pine nuts and a little more of the smoked paprika sprinkled on top.