This recipe was born of the fear of letting an extra bunch of beautiful fresh spinach go to waste coupled with the desire to use up the remainder of a package of stuffing mix I found in my pantry when doing a little purging.

Like everyone, I love stuffing and corn pudding this time of year. So, I decided to combine those two ingredients and add spinach for beautiful green color and loads of vitamins. Silken tofu binds it all resulting in a beautifully textured, almost creamy, dish with protein aplenty. Sage, rosemary and thyme provide mellow seasonal flavors and a hint of paprika gives it a little kick.

It is delicious as is, but I felt like it needed a little zip if eaten alone. So, I made a version of my go-to Piccata sauce to which I added some left-over diced tomato. The red and green is a lovely and festive color combo and the sauce is exactly what the stuffing needed to balance its flavors.

Enjoy this soothing comfort food made healthy.

Stuffing:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen corn
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon dry rubbed sage
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
large pinch dried thyme
pinch paprika
Optional: 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (I recommend including it)
3 cups vegan cornbread stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farm, but you have to read labels)
8 ounces fresh, pre-washed baby spinach, finely chopped in batches in food processor
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Oil a medium casserole dish. In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add onion and saute, stirring frequently, until it begins to soften. Add garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, until corn is heated through and onion and garlic are soft. Stir in next 6 ingredients plus optional nutritional yeast. In a large bowl, combine corn mixture with remaining ingredients. Spoon lightly into prepared casserole dish–avoid packing–and bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Toward the end of the baking period, make sauce.

Tomato Piccata Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine (I like Pinot Grigio)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
2 tablespoons plain soy creamer
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
4 generous tablespoons canned petite diced tomatoes in juice
generous pinch of sugar
coarse sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add garlic and saute, stirring constantly, until it softens and begins to turn golden; avoid browning. Add wine and lemon juice and cook down for a minute or two. Then stir in butter and allow to melt. Follow with creamer and heat through. Then add nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Finally, stir in tomatoes and sugar and heat through. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm stuffing.