Saturday, July 16, 2011

"Meat and Cheese" Enchiladas

This really isn't the greatest picture...sorry. From looking at my blog, you know photography isn't my strong point :-) However, despite the not-so-good picture, these enchiladas turned out super yummy, the best vegan ones I have made. AND my hubby said he likes them better than the traditional family recipe I used to make that had actual meat and cheese in them - wow! The last time I made enchilada sauce, I froze some as the recipe makes a ton. As you saw from a couple days ago, I made Nutty Cheese, so I had that sitting in my fridge waiting to be used in something delicious. I had whole wheat flour tortillas and some Lightlife Smart Ground handy as well. These ingredients all made for a ridiculously easy meal and thankfully it turned out fabulous! I served the enchiladas with my Cumin Dusted Sweet Potato Coins and a big salad. I have listed all the recipes involved in this meal - you can use store-bought enchilada sauce if you want to speed up the process but this sauce really is the best I have ever made. You can also substitute homemade ground seitan for the Smart Ground - it will work just as well.

"Meat and Cheese" Enchiladas
6 whole wheat tortillas
1/4 of a recipe of Nutty Cheese, Mexican style
2 cups enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups ground meat substitute

In a skillet, heat 3 t oil. Add meat sub. Cook until browned. Season with 2 t cumin, 1 t garlic powder, 2 T chili powder, and 3/4 t salt to taste. Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Take one tortilla at a time and fill with meat sub and nutty cheese. Roll up and place in pan. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Save some nutty cheese for the topping. Top rolled enchiladas with sauce and remaining nutty cheese. Bake at 400 for 15-20 min or until sauce is bubbling.

Nutty Cheese (Source: 500 Vegan Recipes)
1 oz agar agar powder
2 cups water
2 cups raw cashews, finely ground into powder
3 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 t fine sea salt
½ t onion powder
½ t garlic powder
Prepare loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray. Place the agar agar in water and bring to full boil. Boil for 5 min. Stir often to prevent boiling over. Place remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into the water-agar mixture and whisk until creamy and smooth. Quickly pour into oiled loaf pan and refrigerate until set.

Enchilada Sauce (Source: 500 Vegan Recipes)
¼ cup chili powder
1 T paprika
1 t garlic powder
1 t cumin
¼ t chipotle chili powder
3 T canola oil
2 T flour
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 ½ cups veg broth

In a saucepan, heat oil. Add flour to form paste. Add spices. Add tomato sauce and broth. Stir to combine and create a smooth silky sauce. Simmer for 15 min, covered.
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Crispy Herbed Potato Stack

Crispy Herbed Potato Stack
I was going to try a recipe for herbed scalloped potatoes and at last minute decided to do something fast and easy. I made up the recipe and it was yummola! I layered sliced russet potatoes in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper, basil, rosemary, paprika, and garlic powder. Then I baked them at 425 fr about 45 minutes. They were crisp and very flavorful!

My thrown-together salad today - after discovering I had no leftovers for lunch!

Tamale Fixings

Tamale Fixings
Plain pintos (for Keith), pintos, corn and onions; corn, jalepenos and Daiya; mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and chard

Making these was a bit time-consuming but kinda fun! They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped - the outer tamale part (not the filling) just wasn't as flavorful as tamales I have had in restaurants. I have another recipe I will try for the dough next time. Tamales are one of my favorite foods so I won't give up on this one!

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes
I modified one of my favorite pancake recipes to make it vegan and then I added blueberries. Turned out quite yummy. Soymilk sours and thickens well - very similar to buttermilk. I have been really impressed with it's ability to substitute for real buttermilk.

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

Egg replacement for 1 egg
1 1/4 cups soured soy milk (put 2 T vinegar into a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Add enough soy milk to equal 1 1/4 cups)
2 T canola oil
1 cup flour (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat or whole wheat pastry - it really takes away from the fluffiness of these pancakes)
1 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Blueberries, optional

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Heat griddle pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Sprinkle blueberries on pancakes after ladling onto griddle. Cook just until golden on both sides.

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein
Overall, this was fabulous! However, I don't think the seitan added much so I would just leave it out next time. The lo mein also needed about double the sauce so I would simply do that next time for added flavor. This was especially spicy and yummy with some Sriracha drizzled on top. I made our favorite veg egg rolls to go with this and it was truly a Chinese treat!!

Veggie Seitan Lo Mein

I really did my own thing for this recipe so I am just going to outline the instructions and include the sauce recipe. I heated oil in a large skillet and added 3 minced cloves of garlic and about 1 cup of half-moon cut onions (I was out of green onions but next time I would use green onions as I like them a lot in Chinese food) and about 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots. After about 5-6 minutes, I added about 1/4 lb of whole green beans. I cooked these veggies until tender. Meanwhile, I cooked a 16oz package of chow mein noodles. Once the veggie mixture was cooked, I poured the sauce on the veggies, heated through and tossed with the noodles. Next time I would double the amount of sauce and have adjusted amounts below to reflect double recipe.

Sauce (Source:Adaptable Feast)
3 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine (I used 3 T rice vinegar and 1 t sugar as I didn't have any rice wine)
3 t sugar
4 T black bean garlic sauce
Mix all ingredients and toss with above mixture.





Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth
Pretty yummy. I found that steaming the wontons worked much better than the recipe suggestion to boil them. The broth was very mild and a bit too mellow for us. Still pretty yummy though. I added extra veggies to the wontons and scallion to the broth. The seasoning in the wonton filling was quite tasty!

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth (Source: Vegan Yum Yum)

(As usual, I modified several things so it's not exactly the recipe in Vegan Yum Yum!)

1 cup chopped broccoli
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 T oil
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 clove fresh minced garlic
1/2 t hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 t hot Chinese mustard
2 T plus 1 t soy sauce
4 cups water ( I think this might have been more flavorful had I used vegetable broth or faux chicken broth???)
6 slices fresh ginger
1 T mirin (I used a splash of cooking wine as I didn't have mirin)
1 1/2 t sugar
2 t rice vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup chopped scallions
16 wonton skins

For filling: Heat oil in skillet and add broccoli, ginger, garlic, carrot, onion and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Add chili sauce, mustard, 1 t soy sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make wontons, take one skin and place in diamond shape. Fill with 1-2 t filling. Fold in half to make a triangle and moisten edges with water and pinch sides to seal. Set triangle in front of you with point up and take the 2 side points and bring them together in front to cross. Set aside and prepare remaining wontons. When finished, place wontons in a steamer basket and steam over pot of boiling water until translucent.

Meanwhile, in a pot, combine remaining ingredients (except wontons) and simmer 10-15 min.

Place 3-4 wontons in bowl and ladle broth over wontons. Serve.