Daring Cooks Challenge – Stacked Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

The required part of this challenge was to make a green sauce for enchiladas using tomatillos and roasted chiles. Fortunately for me, I had some Hatch chiles I had roasted, chopped, and frozen last summer.

AND I have tomatillos year round at my neighborhood market. Some cooks were stumped by tomatillos, so if you are not familiar, tomatillos look like green tomatoes with a sticky paper over the skin. It’s hard to describe their flavor, but they taste rather green and definitely enhance Mexican style dishes.

I just boiled my tomatillos to soften them, then pureed them in my food processor. The finished sauce was beautiful.

These enchiladas were not served Cinco de Mayo, but were a gift to my mom on Mother’s Day; hence, the to-go container. This was also more of casserole than a stack. Here’s the first layer.

Since this dish was for my mom, I used real chicken and real cheese. I bought prepared chicken breasts because I don’t remember how to cook chicken, which I shredded. (I would have used mushrooms if I had made a vegan version.) Here’s the completed casserole.

I baked it for about 25 minutes.

Sorry I don’t have a picture of the enchiladas plated. My mom said the sauce was fantastic and enjoyed her casserole very much. Here’s the recipe for the wonderful sauce. It’s naturally vegan, using veggie broth instead of chicken broth.

Green Chile Sauce for Enchiladas

1½ pounds Fresh Anaheim chiles (about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles) 24 ounces 678 grams - roast, peel, remove seeds, chop coarsely. I used Hatch chiles, but poblanos would work well too.

7-8 ounces Tomatillos (about 4-5 medium) 212 grams - peel, remove stems

4 cups broth (32 ounces/920 grams)

1 clove Garlic, minced

½ tsp Kosher salt (add more to taste)

¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)

2 tablespoons Cornstarch (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening)

Hot sauce, your favorite, optional

Directions:
Roasting Fresh Chiles
1. Coat each chile with a little vegetable oil. If you are doing only a couple chiles, using the gas stove works. For larger batches (as in this recipe), grilling or broiling is faster.

2. Lay the oiled chiles on the grill or baking sheet (line pan with foil for simpler clean-up). Place the grill or broil close to the element, turning the chiles so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered.

3. As they are completely charred (they will probably not all be done at once), remove them to a bowl and cover with plastic, or close up in a paper bag. Let them rest until they are cool.

4. Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out (it rarely does for me). Open the chile and remove the seeds. Turn the chile skin side up and with a paring knife, scrape away the skin. Sometimes it just pulls right off, sometimes you really have to scrape it.

5. DO NOT RINSE!

Green Chile Sauce
1. Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil and remove the papery outer skin from the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft.

2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.

3. Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chiles, minced onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.

4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes.

6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.

Vegan Dinner Party!

Hi, everyone! I’m back from my wonderful week of vacation at my sister’s home in Alabama. The highlight of the trip was hosting a vegan dinner party. We spent the whole day cooking and had a blast. Thanks to all of you who offered recipe suggestions. We decided on a Mexican theme because we love it, and frankly, good Mexican food is hard to come by in Alabama. Your hosts/chefs:

For our entrée, we chose the oh-so delicious Bean & Corn Tortilla Lasagna with Avocado from Eat Drink & Be Vegan.

For our sides we made Messy Rice from Vcon and added in fresh cilantro for a Mexican flair, and a tossed green salad. We plated for our guests and the plates were beautiful.

Here’s our table. You can tell which is my seat by the bowl of broccoli.

Yes, those are margaritas next to some of the plates. The meal was fabulous and our guests loved their dinners.

They also loved the TWO desserts we made. I selected recipes from Vcon which I had made before and knew would be a hit. One was my favorite, Apple Peanut Caramel Bars.

The other was my sister’s favorite, Banana Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding.

Needless to say, the desserts received rave reviews. After dinner the ladies asked for recipes, looked through the cookbooks I had brought with me, and asked me lots of questions about my diet. They said I inspired them to eat healthier, so I’m hopeful I truly did.

My sister had recently bought a Blendtec blender and received a set of All Clad cookware for Christmas. We cooked and ate a LOT and had so much fun together in the kitchen. And my little nephews are enjoying green smoothies every day! During the week I also made Hide the Lentils Spaghetti Sauce from ED&BV (forgot to take a picture) which everyone liked. And we made two soups. Boy, that Blendtec really makes some creamy soup. One was a butternut squash (not vegan because it was made with chicken broth).

The other was Potato Leek Soup from Urban Vegan. (Sorry for the steamy picture.)

Now I need to get off the sweets and back on my diet… again!

Mexican Roasted Vegetables

Yesterday was a big football game day. The ‘Horns played at 11:00 a.m. in Dallas so I fixed up lunch to take to my mom’s and watch the game with her. There were no chips and dips, no burgers or dogs, not even any treats. I went the healthy route and took veggies. With only a few hours in the morning before kickoff, something quick and simple was the best option.

I prepped tons of veggies to roast – zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, radishes, red and yellow and purple peppers, onions, and sweet potatoes. Then I gave them a light coating of olive oil and a good coating of chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper.


After 30 minutes, they were perfect – slightly browned and full of flavor. And a little steamy!

I also made some easy spiced black beans. Just a can of rinsed and drained beans mixed with some spices, a little salsa, and water, and then let them cook until thickened.

I brought along corn tortillas and lettuce so we had our choice of tacos or salad. My mom ate just veggies. She loved them and wanted all the leftovers. I made myself a salad, topped with the veggies and beans – yum.

How do you like my idea of game day food? I know, you’ll probably never invite me to watch football with you!

Vive le Vegan with Some Twists

I love Dreena Burton’s recipes and all three of her cookbooks. I love them because they are healthy, low fat, low sugar, and many are gluten free – just my style when it comes to good food. Main dish recipes use ingredients I always have on hand and they are written flawlessly. Her treats are small in quantity and never sickeningly sweet or full of margarine. And her recipes ALWAYS turn out perfectly. I revisited Vive le Vegan! on Sunday to make some of my favorite recipes for dinner.

Let me preface by saying that I was hoping Chase would come over for dinner, but I ended up taking dinner to him, so the pictures are rather boring.

Dreena’s recipes are also easily adapted. Sunflower Lentil Pie is one of my favorites. Say you get distracted and burn your pot of the last of the lentils in your pantry (oops!). Luckily I had a fresh pot of homemade pinto beans, so I decided to make the pie with pintos instead of lentils. I gave it a Mexican twist by seasoning it with cumin, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. The Mexican twist was easily inspired by wanting the cool Avocado Sauce from Vive to accompany the pie, and just plain loving all foods Mexican.

Here’s my Mexican Sunflower Pinto Pie.




And here’s the Avocado Sauce. I added cilantro to it.

Please imagine a perfect slice of spicy pie drizzled with the creamy dreamy Avocado Sauce. Doesn’t that look good?!!!! Even though I didn’t cut the pie and have a piece when it was done, I can tell you that the “batter” was fabulous. And of course Chase will tell you he ate nearly half of it for dinner.

I also made some colorful veggies – sauteed purple cabbage, with many onions and colored peppers from the farm box. I kept seasoning it and trying to spice it just how I wanted but couldn’t get it quite to my liking. I finally decided to stir in some bottled Italian Dressing and then I was happy.

Chase was very impressed with his veggies and loved them just as much as the pie. So again, imagine a pretty purple mound of cabbage next to that slice of pie on a plate.

For treats I made my all time favorite easy Vive recipe that always hits the spot, and is not too sweet yet full of flavor – Banana Oat Bundles. My usual twist to this recipe is to add chocolate chips. This time I added chocolate chips AND cacao nibs and they were heavenly.

So ends my ode to Dreena. I know there are many fabulous new vegan cookbooks out now, which I look forward to purchasing and cooking from soon, but it’s nice to have the good ol’ standbys to fall back on anytime. Thank you, Dreena, for providing me with so many “go to” recipes!

Stuffed Flying Saucer Squash

I was pleasantly surprised with something other than eggplant and okra in my last CSA box – flying saucer squash. Flying saucers are basically giant patty pan squash, soft flesh with minimal seeds and edible skins. They are great raw or lightly steamed, but I thought I should do something other than chop them up. I decided to showcase their fun form by stuffing and baking them. This delicious recipe is adapted from one I found on Tofu Mom’s blog.

Stuffed Flying Saucer Squash

Cut the tops off six large squash. Scoop insides out leaving 1/4 inch shell. Reserve scooped out flesh.

Filling
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed
reserved scooped out squash, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped roasted green chiles
1/3 cup your favorite salsa
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
salt, pepper, and cumin to taste
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
vegan "cheese" as garnish

Saute onions and garlic in nonstick pan until onions are soft. Add squash, chilies, salsa, black beans, and seasonings. Simmer until squash is soft and most of the liquid has been released. Add rice and stir until heated through. Check seasonings and adjust if needed.

Season inside of squashes with salt and pepper. Pack filling into hollowed out squashes. Set squashes onto baking sheet. Top with vegan cheese if desired




Bake for 30 - 40 min. at 375 degrees or until squash is soft - put broiler on for a moment to melt cheese, if using.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro to garnish.

Dear blogger buddies, I need some advice. My blender broke. It was a nice KitchenAid blender, but not a great one. I used it to make my Green Smoothie Dressing every week, and of course for other smoothies, ice creams, etc. I dropped my entire last batch of dressing when I was taking it out of the fridge and I’m sort of having withdrawals.

Yeh, that was fun to clean up! I really really want a VitaMix, but it’s difficult to justify that expense when money is tight. I can buy a refurbished one for a good discount and pay for it in three installments, but it’s still a LOT of money. What would you do? VitaMix with a seven year warranty or cheapo with a 90 day warranty?

Mexican Food for Game Night

This is the dinner I took to my mom’s for an evening of watching baseball. It wasn’t a particularly spectacular or memorable meal. Oh, it was yummy, all right. And it was quick and easy to make each dish, and it definitely hit the spot on a 100 degree day. The beauty of this meal was the recipes I put together. It had perfect mix ‘n match-ableness. Here’s what I made.

Corn Soup
from Vegan Fire & Spice


Soup when it’s 100 degrees? Yes! This soup is made with fresh corn and potatoes and served at room temperature. My mom loves corn soup and she loved this recipe. It was very good.


Carrot Ribbon Salad
Adapted from a recipe by Dr. Ben Kim

Makes 6 small servings

Ingredients:
6 medium carrots, washed and peeled

Large handful of fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of one orange

1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 avocado, peeled and diced

Directions:
1. Slice carrots into thin strips using a mandolin or vegetable peeler.
2. Combine carrot strips and cilantro leaves in a salad bowl.
3. In a separate bowl combine the orange juice and lime juice. Whisk in the olive oil. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and whisk again.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Gently stir in the avocado.

This simple salad was really really delicious. Of course I love cilantro, and Dr. Kim says:
Cilantro is particularly good when combined with carrots and citrus juice - we were introduced to this recipe by an old family friend, who learned it from celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver.

Wild Rice Salad with Mango, Onion, and Red Pepper

This was simply a box of wild rice, cooked and cooled. Then I added chopped mango, onion, and red bell pepper. I served it at room temp too. It was a wonderful way to use that box of rice I’ve had in my pantry forever.


Tipsy Soft Tacos

From Lisa of Show Me Vegan

I bought burrito sized spinach wraps and just made the bean part of Lisa’s recipe, so I will call these Beer Bean Wraps. These beer braised beans were terrific! I think they may have tasted even better the next day. Is it just me or does everything taste better when you add alcohol to it? Oh, I made the toasted pepitas too. Fabulous idea, Lisa!

Like I said, the mix ‘n match aspect of this dinner was the best part. The rice salad and the carrot salad could remain a side dish, or they could go in the wraps or garnish the soup. The toasted pepitas got sprinkled over everything.


For dessert, fresh strawberries on top of a Sweet Freedom treat which I will reveal on Sweet Freedom Saturday.

A refreshing and delicious meal to go with a victory for the Longhorns!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you celebrating with your mom or your children! Chase is working today, so he and I will celebrate later this week, but I did get to spend some time with my mom. After church we went out for lunch. I had some nice grilled veggies with balsamic glaze…

… green salad …

… and a Poinsettia - cranberry juice and champagne!

Here’s a few pictures of what’s been cooking around here recently.

Isa’s Perfect Grilled Portobello. I had a Portobello the size of a dinner plate and of course needed to do something fabulous with it. Isa’s recent post seemed in order. Here it is marinating.

I grilled it outdoors the best I could on a very windy day.

I didn’t make a sandwich of it, but it was a juicy burger on its own. Perfect indeed.

I think I made three meals out of that huge thing!


I boiled and browned some Brussels sprouts, then coated them with my favorite mustard dressing and fresh dill.

My mustard dressing recipe is equal amounts of Dijon mustard and apricot allfruit, thinned with a little water, milk, or yogurt.

I fixed myself a huge taco salad for Cinco de Mayo. It was really delicious with fresh greens, cilantro, onions, salsa, black beans, homemade cheese, and tortilla chips.

I picked up another CSA box that looks pretty similar to the last one with beets, carrots, cilantro, dill, green garlic, green onions, lettuce, radishes, swiss chard, turnips, and strawberries. Last night I made mashed turnips and kohlrabi …

… and turnip greens with green garlic and green onions.

So fresh and delicious.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.

PS - This is my 300th post!!!

Spring Break Treats

Okay, I put this post off long enough. I had a fabulous Spring Break week. I’m sad that it’s over. My sister went back home, and she took my nephews and our mother with her. I feel bored and lonely. I guess it’s back to the real world tomorrow, getting up at 5:45, going to work, a workout with my trainer, bills to pay, a dentist appointment, and having my car worked on. I got the spring fever bad!

We had lots of food fun during the week, mostly lunch outings and then snacking on leftovers for dinner.

We had a lunch at Houston’s where I knew my only option would be salad, but I love salad for lunch so I didn’t mind. The last time I went there they put eggs in my salad and I had to send it back. This time I got cheese and I had to send it back. I brought my own dressing. Do you carry salad dressing in your purse like me and my sister do?

We also had a lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Chase had a nice hummus plate, and I had a super salad that had grilled corn in it. That was a nice touch and I need to remember that this summer.

Of course our favorite lunch outing was to Marble Falls about 45 minutes from Austin where my cousin has opened her second restaurant, TexasNation. I said in my last post I hoped to get a special vegan dish, but would have been fine with a salad. Well, I got both! Here’s a picture of my amazingly delicious gluten free fettucini with mushrooms, avocado, black beans, red bell peppers, green onions, and capers.



Like I always say, I never expect to get a fab vegan dish when I go out. I really just go for the company. But it’s so nice when you do get great vegan food. I would say I ate waaaaay too much last week!


As far as cooking last week, I made the LDV Biryani again because it’s now a favorite. I also made another new favorite, Chickpea Tacos from VegTimes. The filling recipe is merely mashed avocado, chickpeas, and lime juice. I had to spice it up just a bit by adding cumin, garlic, and salt.

We put this on tostados and topped it with crispy salad and salsa. Oh, man, these were terribly good. A big hit for sure.


As far as baking last week, I made several treats.

Banana Bread – can’t remember what recipe I used.

Black Bottom Blondies – from My Sweet Vegan. I have to say these weren’t the hit I had hoped they would be. But you know what? It’s not Hannah’s fault because I saw that Kim had made them too (and enjoyed them) and mine look exactly like hers. It’s that dam* Earth Balance! It tastes horrible and I am never using it again.

Banana Oat Bundles – from one of Dreena’s books, Vive I think, and always delicious.

I have to say that since my sister was driving such precious cargo 1000 miles back to Alabama, I offered to make her any cookies she wanted, even ones with real butter and eggs. She asked for more Sticky Chewy Chocolate Cookies. I made them again, and they are still so chocolaty yummy. You really should bake yourself up a batch!

Right now I’m working on Chase’s Sunday dinner. I promise to try to catch up with all of your posts soon. I really haven’t even had time to peek but I know you’ve all been up to something delicious!

I leave you with a little mosaic of fun from the past week – scooter rides, Blogger Bash, and lunch with family at TexasNation. (You can see individual pictures on my Flickr page.)

See you again soon!

Soup, Tostados, and Pierre

Tomorrow Nava Atlas’ latest edition of her famous soup cookbook will be released. It is newly title Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons. I have made so many wonderful recipes from this book and I recommend it highly for all you soup lovers. And even for non-soup lovers. I must admit I was not a fan of soups (due to my rule about not drinking my calories) until I started making recipes from this book. This weekend I made another delicious creation from the book, Three Bean Soup with Brown Rice.



It has red, white, and green beans, along with tomatoes and brown rice. It is quick and easy to prepare and Nava has allowed me to reprint the recipe for you here. It is very warming and hearty. Please do give it a try, and then get yourself a copy of the book!

Three-Bean Soup with Brown Rice
Red, white, and green beans in a tomato broth

8 servings

A warming, hearty, high-fiber soup, this is great served with Green Chili Cornbread and a simple salad or coleslaw.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large celery stalk, diced
6 cups water
1/2 cup raw brown rice, rinsed
One 16-ounce can salt-free crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
One 10-ounce package frozen green beans
One 16-ounce can great northern or cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
One 16-ounce can kidney or red beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon lime juice, or more to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro or parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Thin limes wedges for garnish, optional

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and celery and continue to sauté until all are golden.

Add the water, rice, tomatoes, oregano, and chili powder. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Add the three types of beans and simmer over very low heat for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the rice and green beans are quite tender.

Stir in the lime juice and cilantro, then season with salt and pepper. If time allows, let the soup stand off the heat for an hour or longer, then heat through before serving. Garnish each serving with two or three lime wedges, if desired.

I didn’t make the cornbread this time to go with the soup, but the book does include a section with lots of bread recipes to use as accompaniments. My absolute favorite is the Oat-Walnut Muffins.

I took the whole pot of soup to my mom’s house for dinner. I actually struggled to come up with something to have with the soup. I wanted something kinda Mexican and kinda crunchy, but I didn’t want tacos with more beans and rice. Then I came across a wonderful recipe in Dreena Burton’s The Everyday Vegan - Mexican Tortilla Triangles. It’s a fabulous butternut squash puree spread on tortillas and baked. The squash puree was absolutely addictive!

I found some great baked tostado shells at my market. They are lightyears better than those gross, yellow, mass-produced products and far crispier than anything I could make myself. And they come in the coolest container! All you Texans near an HEB should definitely seek these out.

So we topped our tostados with lettuce, tomato, and onion and along with our soup had ourselves a super supper.

I took my Razzcherry Cupcakes for dessert. My mom said they were the best cupcakes ever so I will have to remind you to vote for me later this week!

Now before I get to Pierre, I want to take just a minute to talk about all the vegan cookbooks and recipes we have access to these days. You all know I have a 22 year old son and should surmise that I have been in the kitchen for 20+ years. Please benefit from my experience when I give you this bit of advice. We are so incredibly fortunate to have at this time an abundance of wonderful vegan cookbooks, as well as spectacular cooks and bakers in the blog world. I know of 7 more new cookbooks on the way! When you buy a cookbook, please read the whole cookbook. Read the introduction provided by the author. Read the book from cover to cover. You’ll get tips, explanations, background information, and recommendations about the recipes. Read the recipe headers. Read the variations provided. And read the recipe in its entirety before you begin to prepare it. And when you want to try a recipe from a blog, read the whole post and the blogger’s comments about the recipe. Some recipes are written with children in mind. Some are meant for more adventurous tastes. I do prepare recipes as given many times, but usually I change at least a little something to make it my own. Taste as you cook. This took me a long time to learn. Please don’t write off a recipe because it didn’t have enough salt. Add more salt! If you don’t like barley, don’t make Vegetable Barley Soup and expect to like it. But do make it with brown rice instead (if you like brown rice) and perhaps you will like it. Do you get what I’m saying? For example, I laugh to myself when I see a recipe for a big ol’ pot of chili that only has one teaspoon of chili powder in it. I always add at least a tablespoon because that fits my spicy palette. And I don’t like to season with tarragon or fennel seed. If I come across a recipe that intrigues me then see either of those spices included, I can still make it. I just omit that spice or use only half the amount called for if it would alter too much the integrity of the dish. I used to pass over recipes that called for curry powder because I hated the little green tin in my spice cabinet. But now I have a curry powder I love and use it liberally. It’s as simple as altering a recipe that makes 6-8 servings. If I don’t want that much, I don’t give up on that recipe. I make a half recipe. And finally, one trick I use for savory dishes that you might try is this: when a finished recipe seems like it’s lacking something but you just don’t know what it is, many times a teaspoon of cider or red wine vinegar will brighten up all the flavors. A splash of wine would work here too. Granted, sometimes a recipe just doesn’t work or just isn’t something I like. But honestly, if I prepare something and it doesn’t turn out right, it’s no one’s fault but my own. Use all these new books and recipes as your guide to continue to create your own fabulous vegan recipes!

Okay, lecture over. Meet Pierre!

I wish he were my baby, but I was just dogsitting on Saturday. He belongs to Chase. This precious puppy was tethered in someone’s front yard and subsequently rescued. Chase will give Pierre a good home and he will have another dog and two bearded dragons to keep him company. Oh, this is the tiniest dog I’ve ever seen! He’s a little bigger than a beanie baby…

… and a little smaller than my shoes.

Altogether now – awwwwwww!