Scalloped Potatoes In A Garlic-Herb Béchamel Sauce

If you're a vegan like me and thought you would never again enjoy the homey taste of scalloped potatoes, think again! Here, thinly sliced onions and Yukon Gold potatoes settle in a savory herbed béchamel sauce garnished with a a healthy load of ground pepper and fresh rosemary. Delicious! I've adapted the gratin recipe from Mollie Katzen's The Vegetable Dishes I Couldn't Live Without, a brilliant (though not particularly vegan) cookbook filled with interesting and new ideas on how to prepare veggies. Katzen's vegetarian cookbooks are bestselling and rightfully so! The lady can tell you how to whip up some amazing home-style soups with ease and class, all while preaching on about her unending love for vegetables.

4 Tbs. margarine
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
2 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 cups warmed unsweetened almond or soy milk
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
2 lbs. Yukon Gold Potatoes (sliced thinly)
1 large onion (sliced thinly)
freshly ground black pepper
fresh rosemary

Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the garlic, rosemary, and thyme, stirring often to prevent burning. Add the flour and whisk constantly until a thick paste forms. Keep whisking as you add in the warmed milk. Add the bay leaf and turn the heat down even lower. Let the gratin thicken, stirring often, for about 8 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and preheat oven to 375.

Cut the potatoes and onions very thinly and arrange in a greased pan. Pour the béchamel sauce over the vegetables (make sure to discard the bay leaf) and top with cracked pepper. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the center of the oven for an hour. Test to make sure the potatoes are tender, and increase time if necessary. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh rosemary and more pepper.

Enjoy!
NRG