Broccoli Corncake Stacks with Red Pepper and Creamy Garlic Thai Sauce

Whew! This one was a doozy but I am so thankful we got it done.

Not sure if I've mentioned this (lol?) but I work two jobs. Most of my meals aim to be quick, easy and hangover-friendly. But I rarely get to host dinner parties so intentionally I made this dish work-intensive. I don't really get many opportunities to do that anymore so here we go!

I've been really into stacks lately - an easy way to make simple ingredients elegant. Here's what's in this one:

layer one - broccoli corncakes
layer two - kale and mushroom
layer three - seasoned quinoa
layer four - cashews and red pepper
layer five - creamy garlic thai sauce

The kale and mushroom are relatively self-explanatory, so today I'll just focus on the broccoli corncakes and the toppings.

The corncakes were naturally the first layer I worked on, because they required the most prep and cook time. Here's how I built them:

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 Tbl white sugar
1/4 Cup almond milk or soy milk
1 Tbl canola oil

Combine all dry ingredients, then mix with the soymilk and oil. Fry in a cast iron skillet with 1 Tbl heated olive oil, flipping once golden brown. Let sit on a paper towel to dry.

Once you have your other layers made, let's look at the creamy garlic thai sauce. Here are the ingredients:

2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1 Tbl red curry paste
2 tsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegan sour cream (I use Tofutti sour cream because it's non-hydrogenated)
2 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl chili garlic sauce

Whisk together all ingredients.

The last layer I prepared in this dish was the cashews and red pepper, because it's more important that those are served hot. Here's what I used:

1 cup roasted, salted cashews
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 Tbl olive oil

Heat the olive oil on med-high in a skillet, then toss in the peppers once you can see the currents in the oils. Give the peppers two minutes to release their aromas, then toss in the cashews, and stir until the cashews are toasted.

See this post on layering and stacking and being all fancy pants.