Wednesday, October 01, 2008

VeganMoFo Begins!

I have signed on to participate again this year in VeganMoFo, along with nearly 200 others! Because there are so many posts to read, I will try to keep my posts brief so we can move on and look at all the other MoFo posts. Look for my upcoming posts to include:

Quick healthy recipes;
Weekend dinners;
Test recipes for Ricki;
and recipe ideas for the upcoming holidays – sorry, but it’s time to start thinking about it!

I’ll start with a quick and easy recipe. This recipe is a blast from my nonvegan past, and is adapted from the Tortilla Casserole recipe in Vegan Express. My version uses white corn tortilla CHIPS instead of tortillas.

Tortilla Chip Casserole

Ingredients:
Half a medium onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 large fresh jalapeno, minced
1 cup corn
1 T. chili powder
1 t. cumin
1 t. oregano, preferably Mexican
salt & pepper to taste
Corn tortilla chips
Melty cheese (optional)

(Some mushrooms would be great, but my family doesn’t much like them, so I didn’t use them; leftover baked potatoes would be great too.)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil or spray a 2 quart casserole.

Saute the onion, zucchini, and garlic (and other veggies if using) in a little broth until softened; season with salt & pepper. Add in the beans, tomatoes, jalapeno, corn, and spices and mix well. Set aside. My veggie assortment looked like this:

Layer some tortilla chips in the bottom of the casserole to completely cover, like this:


Layer half of the veggie mixture over the chips. Add cheese over the veggies, if using. Repeat layers. (Cheese will help the casserole hold together better. I used some leftover homemade cheddar.)

Here it is oven ready:


Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly around the edges and heated through. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Why not prepare a side of cilantro rice while the casserole is in the oven?



Enjoy!

21 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

HOORAY FOR MOFO!!!! :0)

Anonymous said...

Love those blasts from the past! ;)
Looks like a great recipe.

And good for you for signing on--wish I could this year, but I'm looking toward next. I'll have to rely on the 200 others and read all about it this time round (and looking forward to those test recipes, of course!) :)

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Great idea! You'll be seeing a lot of Ricki test recipes on my blog, too, during VeganMoFo. ;) Solidarity, fellow tester!

Anonymous said...

This looks so incredibly good - I think I will have to have enchiladas or something Mexican tonight!

Bex said...

That looks great. I love the Vegan Express cookbook for quick weeknight dinner ideas.

Usha said...

Both of these look wonderful..loved the idea of cilantro rice too :)

Ruthie said...

Diann ~

YUMMY. I hope you're doing well. :-)

Ruthie

Christina said...

Thanks for you comment, Diann!

And I love Mexican oregano. I don't use it exclusively, but I definitely use it in all my Mexican recipes. It's just different enough to be distinguishable, but still familiar enough to be recognizable as oregano. Thai basil is the same.

I'm so excited about the "cool" weather we've been having lately, I've actually been able to use the oven a bit, and it looks like you have to, with beautiful results!

Sheree' said...

Wow, we finally found Mexican oregano at our local health food store. We have been looking for a couple years. I can't wait to try it. Your dishes always look fantastic. Look forward to everyones dishes this month.:o)

A.M. said...

Yay for VeganMofo, can't wait to see all your creations...

And ehm... eating ice cream for breakfast is definitely NOT something I do regularly - in fact, I always (ok, most of the time) try to start my day of as healthy as possible! :-)

Vegan_Noodle said...

I agree that keeping mofo posts short is the way to go.

I love this tortilla chip casserole you've made!!

Anonymous said...

This looks so wonderful and easy to make!

allularpunk said...

that casserole looks majorly yummy!

Kati said...

Mmmmm chip casserole...

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Yum-- that looks like comfort food at its finest!

Anonymous said...

That casserole sounds perfect! And thanks for the smoked paprika tip!

tofufreak said...

good idea! it looks delicious!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

LOL. I still can't believe you & I both made Tortilla casseroles... (it looks great of course) & I'm so thrilled you're testing for Ricki. She's amazing and you're one awesome tester if I do say so myself!

Unknown said...

How do you make cilantro rice? (I hope that's not a dumb question)

Sarah said...

such a great recipe to start vegan mofo. It looks amazing, Ill definitely have to make it!

aTxVegn said...

Erica, not at all a dumb question! All you have to do is make your rice and when it's done, add in all the chopped cilatro you like, a little lime juice, and salt & pepper.