Tuna-Noodle Casserole

 Hooray, comfort food! Winter is not complete without thee :)
This recipe contains goat cheese, because although my son and I are allergic to dairy, we both can tolerate goat dairy products on occasion. If that doesn't work for you, insert non-dairy cheese sub of choice. I even made this recipe with vegan cheese sauce once, and the result was pretty good.
My non- allergy-food-eating husband, who, incidentally, does not like fish, told me about 5 times last night how good this meal was- going so far as to say "If you opened a restaurant someday, you should serve this". That man is wonderful :) 

Tuna-Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups medium rice noodles (I used a mix of shells and spirals)
1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs (may be omitted if necessary)
1 Tbs shortening, melted mixed with a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups mixed veggies (I used chopped broccoli and sweet peas)
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash cayenne pepper- more if you like a zing!
2 cups rice milk (or plain non-dairy beverage of choice)
2 cans of tuna, drained (Costco brand is soy free!!)
1 cup goat chedder cheese cubes (or cheese sub of choice)
1/4 cup pimentos or chopped roasted red pepper

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile combine bread crumbs, melted shortening, and a dash of salt; set aside.

For sauce, in a medium saucepan cook broccoli in 1/4 cup shortening until tender. Stir in flour, salt, dry mustard, and black pepper. Add milk all at once; cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in sweet peas and cook until heated through. Combine cooked noodles, sauce, tuna, cheese cubes, and pimentos.  Transfer to a 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden.