Vegetable Bake

I made this one for Thanksgiving and got such good reviews I made it for a Christmas Eve Party:D
Basically the idea behind it was we wanted a sweet potato SOMETHING for the holidays...but we have made the same sweet potato casserole every year. So I decided to combine all the best veggies into one awesome, healthy, delicious dish!
I did make this dish gluten-free, wheat-free and vegan, but if you want you are following the blood type diet you can use regular bread crumbs or regular mozzarella cheese instead of the substitute cheese:)


what you'll need:
*about 4-5 slices of spelt bread (if you're making it gluten free)
*one sweet potato
*one yam
*approx. 1 1/4 cup broccoli
*approx. 1 cup sliced carrots
*1 cup diced onion
*one bell pepper
*1-2 large zucchini
*2 large tomatoes
*Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese (or just mozzarella cheese)
*olive oil
*garlic powder
*Italian herbs
*basil

start your ovens...400!
also, start your toaster ovens!
if you're making this with the spelt bread, start by toasting the bread slices until extremely crisp. I learned how to make bread crumbs here: http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-make-gluten-free-breadcrumbs.html
but found the toaster doesn't take as long:)

then when they are toasted you can break the pieces up and pop em in a food processor and make them into crumbs! pretty simple...but I never would have thought of that on my own! Thanks Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef!

Anyways...
Next step in to brush olive oil all over a 9x13 baking pan. Cut up the sweet potato and yam into about about 1/4" slices (you can choose to either peel or not peel the potatoes...good either way)and lay them out across the bottom of the pan. drizzle a little olive oil over them and sprinkle in the garlic.

Now spread the broccoli and carrot slice over the sweet potatoes and sprinkle Italian herbs over the dish. Spread the diced onion over that and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. I added a little bit of garlic here too but it's all personal preference how much garlic you want to use:D

Then dice of the bell pepper and scatter it over the onion followed by thinly sliced strips of zucchini created a top layer. Here I sprinkled some more Italian herbs and a handful of Daiya mozzarella cheese.

Slice up the tomato into thin slices and place over the zucchini. top off the dish sprinkling the bread crumbs, adding some more cheese, a little drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of basil.

bake covered for about half an hour and uncovered for half an hour. check the dish by poking down to the bottom with a fork. You will know it is done when the sweet potatos at the bottom are soft.
It may take another 15 minutes in the ovens.

But I find it quite delicious and I could make a meal out of just that!
So..

hope you enjoy!
you are loved.