Vegan Mexican Casserole

Ok, so I did manage to try out a new recipe last night... and since the family is sleeping in this morning, I thought I'd do a quick post.


This vegan Mexican Casserole came in at about 30 minutes - I decided to cheat and use canned vegetables (mostly), so if you're using fresh chopped tomatoes and such, it would probably take considerably longer. Either way, it's well worth the time.



Vegan Mexican Casserole


6 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch strips
1 medium white onion, coarsely chopped
1 small can black olives, sliced
White vinegar
1 tsbp extra virgin olive oil
1 package taco seasoning
1 can golden corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes with jalapeno peppers (not drained)
1 package Soyrizo
1 small can diced green chiles
1 package Veggie Shreds Cheddar and Pepperjack "Cheese"




Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In separate bowls, add enough vinegar to cover the onions and olives. Let sit for at least 5 minutes to marinate.

In a medium saucepan, combine tomatoes, black beans, and taco seasoning. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add olive oil to a medium skillet and brown Soyrizo according to package directions.




Drain olives and onions.



Layer corn tortilla strips, soyrizo, corn, chiles, onions, olives, tomato/black bean mixture, and "cheese" in a casserole dish.

Cover casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes.



As you can see from the picture, my baking-dish-to-plate execution left a bit to be desired. I was envisioning a neat sort of lasagna-like stack, but it all fell apart as soon as it hit the plate. Maybe it was repulsed by the tacky gingham-and-sunflower pattern, which was, I believe, the result of a wedding gift gone awry.



I wish I could say that the green blob appearing here is my made-from scratch guacamole, but the truth is, the avocados at the store were in a pretty sorry state. A few were still green and hard as a brick; the rest were pitifully over-ripe. So I ended up buying the guacamole from the deli. Not bad, I guess. Just not good either.

Okay, time to venture out for some last minute holiday purchases. We had freezing rain last night (I nearly killed myself on the driveway), but strangely, it's back up to about 50 degrees today.

I leave you with a pic of my smug daughter, who had just conned us out of and early gift - Spongebob pajamas. Is it any wonder the kid is spoiled?

Vegan Huevos Rancheros (and a brief poll)

There's a brief poll at the end of this post. If you would be kind enough to give your opinion in comment form, it would be much appreciated (even if I don't like what you have to say...)


Ok, so no video today... My old Dell laptop (yes, it was old at the ripe age of 3) crapped out its hard drive, so I've been furiously trying to save files and import them to its replacement (an ACER Extensa 4420... at just over $400, this thing was a steal)...

But I digress.

Today's recipe is all about comfort food... you know, those meals that make things better, no how crappy your day has been. We've all got 'em... and since I'm still working through the batch of chili I made a while back, it was time to veganize one of my other favorite comfort foods...

Huevos rancheros.

I wasn't sure how to tackle this one, but it turned out to be fairly easy. About the worst thing I can say is that it takes several skillets, which is usually a no-no in my world. But hey, sometimes a bit of comfort food is worth it. So here we go...

Vegan Huevos Rancheros

2 corn tortillas
Olive oil
1/2 package Morningstar Farms Soyrizo
1/2 package firm tofu, drained, pressed, and crumbled
1/3 medium red onion, finely diced
1 roma tomato, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 small handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp turmeric
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/3 tbsp cayenne pepper, ground
Fresh guacamole

Place tofu in a medium skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil, turmeric, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Heat for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.

In a separate skillet, brown the Soyrizo in 1 tbsp olive oil.

Place 2 tbsp olive oil in yet another skillet, heat. Fry corn tortillas for about 1 minute on each side, transfer to serving plates.

Place a layer of Soyrizo crumbles on each tortilla, then top with tofu mixture.

Layer on onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, and cilantro. Top with guacamole.


Good for your body? Probably not (although much beter than the omni version).

Good for your soul? Boy howdy!


Speaking of "good for the soul", VeggieGirl did a post on yeast-free sweetbreads. Ah, the siren call of carbs run amok...


Ok, so here's the poll.

The Veggie Guy is kicking around the idea of adding a cookbook to his list of endeavors. Obviously, this would be a collection of vegan recipes, but I want to focus on meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. If I published such a book, would you most likely:

A) Buy it
B) Borrow it
C) Steal it
D) Recommend it to a friend
E) Roll your eyes and chuckle
F) Say, "Please, I have enough cookbooks already. I need room for groceries, hombre!"
G) Flat out advise me against such a hoopleheaded endeavor?

So let's hear it! If none of the above apply, make something up, or just say, "Meat."

Autumn Vegan Tacos with Roasted Corn Tomatillo Salsa

Ok, so here's my first shot at video blogging. As it were, my 5-year-old daughter was the only available camera-person, so it's a pretty... interesting video. So take it in context. My wife tells me she'll help out with future video blogging efforts, so long as I give her a bit of advance notice.



Autumn Veggie Tacos with Roasted Corn Tomatillo Salsa

Tacos:

4 corn tortillas, taco size
1 cup asparagus, trimmed
1 cup yellow squash, diced
1/2 large jalapeno, diced
1/3 xup red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped portabella mushrooms
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp groud cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp olive oil
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed


Salsa

1 can yellow corn, drained
3 large tomatillos, husked and diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/32 jalapeno pepper, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drain corn; empty onto kitchen towel. Press dry with a second kitchen towel. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray; arrange corn in a single layer; bake for 15 minutes.

Combine olive oil, asparagus, yellow squash, red bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeno. Stir fry on medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften.

Meanwhile, mash together avocado, cumin, and cayenne. Set aside.

Combine chopped tomatillos, cilantro, 2 cloves chopped garlic, and lime juice in a medium bowl. Place in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Warm tortillas in a microwave for 30 seconeds, or steam for 2 minutes to soften.

Fill tortillas with vegetable mixture; top with avocado mixture. Serve with tortilla chips and corn-tomatillo salsa.

Vegan recipe: Veggie Chick'n Taquitos with Guacamole

Hey, whaddaya know? The Veggie Guy has posted a recipe for the first time in... well, too danged long. Really, it's a pretty simple recipe, but it turned out very well.

Okay, first, the guacamole.

I have a confession to make - I've always used those seasoning packets from the produce aisle - you know, mash 2 avocados, add the seasoning packet, and... instant guacamole.

But tonight, I decided to make guacamole from scratch. Here are the ingredients (minus the tomatoes, which were fashionably late for the event):



Clockwise from top: 2 monster avocados (really, these were the biggest danged avocados I've seen in a while), 2 cloves of garlic, a few sprigs of cilantro, a red jalapeno, a small red onion, and a jar of cumin. As I mentioned, 2 roma tomatoes showed up just after the picture was taken. Prima donnas...

Step 1: Peel and mash the avocados.

Step 2: Dice 1 roma tomato, about 1/2 of 1 small red onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 jalapeno, and cilantro. Add all ingredients , plus 1/2 tbsp cumin, to avocado.

Step 3: Mash all ingredients with a fork and mix. Put in a bowl and refrigerate for 1/2 hour to allow flavors to combine.

Now for the taquitos:

1/2 package Morningstar Farms Veggie Chick'n Strips

4 small flour tortillas

1/2 tbsp adobo seasoning powder

4 oz. Veggie Shreds cheddar and pepperjack flavored soy cheese

1 roma tomato, diced

1 red jalapeno, diced

1/3 tbsp olive oil

4 oz beer (or whatever you don't drink while cooking)

1/2 small red onion, diced

In a medium skillet or wok, add olive oil, Veggie Chick'n strips, adobo seasoning, jalapeno, 1/2 of the diced red onion, and beer. Cook over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

At this point, my 5-year-old daughter confiscated the camera and snapped a shot of the Veggie Guy in his favorite place in the house:

Place 1/4 of the Veggie Chick'n in each tortilla, add Veggie Shreds. Roll into taquitos and place in a baking dish. Bake for 5 minutes.

Serve with diced tomatoes, remaining red onions, vegan sour cream, and guacamole. (Kroger had Tofutti vegan sour cream on sale for $1.88 today!)

So there you go. The Veggie Guy has resurrected, like the proverbial phoenix or Jesus or that guy from the Evil Dead series... Only I make way better guacamole.

Quick Spinach Quesadillas

Those of you who have been watching the news probably know that we had a "blizzard" here in Ohio this weekend. I'm not sure I'd use the word "blizzard" - to me, it was just an inconvenient amount of driveway shoveling. But I guess if the media wants to make a big deal about it, so be it.

Anyway, some friends got snowed in on Saturday. Carnivores. Hard core. Anyway, rather than venture out in the snow, I opted to make these quick spinach quesadillas for everyone. I think some of the people were more than a little put off by the sight of something green and leafy, but hey... when you're in a vegetarian's home, you will eventually encounter food that isn't fried, loaded with fat, or meat-laden.

Anyway, I liked these things because they were quick to put together (about 15 minutes, give or take), and made from ingredients I already had on hand. So if you're running short on time, give these easy spinach quesadillas a try.

10 burrito sized flour tortillas
1 8 oz package shredded Veggie Shreds "cheese"
1 jar picante sauce or salsa
fresh baby spinach
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
low fat sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place one tortilla on cutting board, sprinkle thin layer of cheese on top. Add onions, baby spinach, muchrooms, and picante sauce. Sprinkle on another layer of cheese, and place another tortilla on top. Repeat with remainder of tortillas.

Place on baking sheet or directly on oven rack, bake for 6-7 minutes. Place quesadillas on cutting board, cut into quarters.

Serve with sour cream if desired.

Tomatillo Corn Salsa

Anybody that knows me can attest to the fact that I loathe store-bought salsa. I'm not sure why... it just has some strange wang to it that I can't get past. Whatever the reason, I suffer long periods of salsa withdrawal, because I'm too picky to eat salsa from a jar, but too impatient to make my own.

Sooner or later, though, the salsa bug always gets me. That usually involves a long round of chopping, simmering, tasting, swearing, and tweaking. Tonight, though, I decided that I'd try and keep it simple.

It worked out very well. I had this salsa ready to go in about 10 minutes, and I don't think there was even any swearing involved.

It's also spicy without being too immolatingly hot, thanks to the sweetness of the green tomatillos. So you can take it to the next office potluck without having to listen to Wilma from the payroll department gripe about it afterwards.

So, here we go:

Tomatillo Corn Salsa

1 can golden corn
4 medium or 2 large green tomatillos, de-husked and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 serrano peppers, finely diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 tbsp ground cayenne pepper
1/3 tbsp ground cumin

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl (glass, not metal). Put in refrigerator and let sit for 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

This is very good with tortilla chips, or in burritos.

Arroz con Vegetales - Mexican Rice with Vegetables

I'm leaving for Las Vegas in a couple of days... as much as I love Vegas, being a vegetarian there is a bit of a challenge. People come to Vegas for (among other things) the plethora of fine steakhouses, so there's really not much left for the vegetarians. Alas.

Anyway, I decided to make one of my favorite Mexican dishes while I'm packing, since I figure it will be a while before I get a really satisfying meal.

This recipe is a little tough to squeeze in under the half hour mark, but it's well worth the effort. You can cut some time by using a packaged Mexican seasoning mix, but to be honest, it's just not quite the same.

Arroz con Vegetales - Mexican Rice with Vegetables

Serves 4

1 cup uncooked white rice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 zucchini squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 poblano pepper, cut into 1/2 inch x 1 inch pieces
1 can yellow corn
4 cups cut broccoli florets
1 onion, chopped
8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 oz Veggie Shreds cheddar "cheese"
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce
8 flour tortillas, fajita size
1/2 cup water

Cook rice in a rice cooker according to directions (my rice cooker instructions say to add 1 cup of water to the rice, 1 1/2 cups water to reservoir, and cook for 24 minutes).

While rice is cooking:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove tortillas from package, wrap completely with foil. Set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add onions and garlic, saute for one minute.

Add red bell pepper, zucchini squash, yellow squash, poblano pepper. Saute for 3 minutes.

Add remainder of vegetables. Saute for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Add cumin, water, Tabasco, and cayenne pepper. Turn down heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

While vegetables simmer, place tortillas in the oven for 3 minutes.

Mix cilantro into cooked rice.

Place 1/4 of cooked rice on each serving plate, cover with 1/4 of shredded cheese. Spoon vegetables over rice and cheese.

Serve with warm tortillas and chips and guacamole or salsa. Upon serving, spoon vegetable, rice, and cheese mixture into tortillas.

Super Easy Taquitos

Here's one of our household favorites - partially because my wife loves Mexican-ish food, and partially because it's a quick and easy solution for dinner. These taquitos can be assembled in about 10 minutes, and ready to serve in another 15. Yay for me for serving up yet another recipe that beats the 1/2 hour threshold. But you know me... that's just how I roll.

Note: This is one of the few recipes here that is not vegan. You can make it almost vegan by using Veggie Shreds ("almost" because Veggie Shreds contain casein, an animal product). Barring that, I'm not sure what you would do.

Anyway, here's how Super Easy Taquitos happen:

8 corn tortillas, taco size (I dunno - 8 inches in diameter?)
1 can vegetarian refried beans (don't assume all refried beans are vegetarian. Some contain lard and/or bits of Marlon Brando)
1 jar taco sauce
4 oz Veggie Shreds cheddar "cheese"
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spoon 2 tbsp refried beans into each tortilla, about 1/3 of the way from one edge. Spread chopped onion over refried beans. Pour 1 tsp of taco sauce over beans/onions. Fold edge of each tortilla closest to the beans over the filling, and continue rolling until you reach the opposite edge.

Place the taquitos in a large casserole dish or rectangular glass 13" x 9" baking dish, allowing the taquitos to touch. Pour taco sauce over the top of the taquitos, then sprinkle the remainder of the onions over the taco sauce. Sprinkle cheese over the top.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.

Serve with chips and guacamole or salsa.

Recipe: Mexican Salad

OK, I'm going to post a recipe that isn't going to do much to dispel the notion that we vegetarians are a bunch of salad eaters. :-)

This is a very tasty light and tasty salad that you can put together in just a few minutes (a BIG plus in my family). It's vegan, unless of course, you can't have a salad without cheese (I know a few folks like that), or you use a different dressing. The dressing in this recipe is an oil-and-vinegar based recipe, but I've used a bottled fat-free ranch in this salad to cut time and make the salad low-fat, and it worked just fine.

For the salad:

Leaf lettuce (I use mixed field greens)
2 ripe avocados
2 tsp lemon juice
1 medium red onion
2 cups mixed beans, drained and cooked (I use a can of black beans and a can of great northern beans. I've seen it done with kidney beans too.)

For the dressing:

A few drops of hot chili oil
4 tbsp olive oil (Use extra virgin olive oil if possible. It really will make a difference!)
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp garlic wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro


Remove avocado skins and pits, thinly slice avocado flesh and sprinkle with lemon juice (this prevents discoloration).

Chop the lettuce leaves and place into a large salad bowl. slice tomatoes and onion; push onion slices out into rings. Arrange tomato slices, avocado slices, and onion rings around the salad bowl, leaving room in the center for the beans.

Spoon the bean mixture into the center of the salad bowl.

Mix salad dressing ingredients and pour over salad.