Spinach Enchiladas

This is a sad story. I wanted to show you a picture of the enchiladas plated with black beans and beet salad, but when setting up the shot, the plate slipped and the food spilled all over the couch. So just imagine 🙂

For the sauce: Blend together 2 cups canned tomatoes, 1-2 jalapenos, 1 small red onion, 4-5 garlic cloves, and 3 TBL tomato paste. Transfer to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook about 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup vegan cheese and stir until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the enchiladas: Slightly heat corn tortillas so that they are easy to roll. Steam spinach (or use thawed frozen spinach). Prepare a baking dish with a little olive oil on the bottom. Roll up enchiladas and pour sauce on top. Sprinkle with extra vegan cheese if desired. Cover with foil and bake at 400 F for 10 minutes.

Spicy Ginger Vegetable Stew and Papusas

When worlds collide, sometimes you get a meal like this: Ethiopian-inspired vegetable stew and Viva Vegan’s papusas. Who cares if they go together, they taste good.

Stew:
1/2 cabbage, chopped into wedges
6 small potatoes, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 pound green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 TBL ginger, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 jalapenos
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp nutmeg
3 cardamom pods (remember to remove these before eating)
2 cups veggie bullion
salt to taste
oil

Blend together, onions, jalapenos, garlic, and ginger. Heat oil in a large pot and cook onion mixture 2-3 minutes. Add spices and cook until garlic is fragrant. Add vegetables and bullion and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Uncover and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid has reduced. Remove cardamom pods!

These papusas are great, buy Terri’s book. We were lazy and just made a filling from Trader Joe’s refried black beans and Daiya, but next time we’ll go all out.

Vegan kung poa and stir fry fun

We used this recipe for the kung pao sauce, and we played around with some vegetables. I definitely recommend the cashews with the kung pao tofu, they’re so much better than plain old peanuts.

Spicy corn and black soup (vegan)

After a long day of working in the office and then at home, so that the bathroom ceiling could be replastered, we were ready for margaritas. I’d planned to make a sambar, but decided that something southwestern would be more appropriate. Bobby Flay has a recipe for Spicy Corn Soup that was sort of an inspiration. I’m sure ours is much better and it’s vegan! Alas, I wish we had fresh corn as I’m sure this would have been even more insanely delicious. Le sigh.

1 package frozen organic corn or 4 cups fresh

12 oz. light coconut milk

1 onion, diced

1 TBL garlic, minced

2 serrano peppers, diced

1 TBL cayenne

4 cups faux chicken bouillon

1 can black beans drained

1 tsp olive oil

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a dutch oven. Add onions and cook 4-5 minutes until very soft. Add serrano peppers, garlic, and cayenne and cook 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant. Add corn and bouillion. Bring to a boil and cook 5-6 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Remove about 2/3 of the kernals and blend with the coconut milk until smooth. Return mixture to the dutch oven and stir. Add in drained black beans. Turn up the heat to a low boil, then cover and cook on medium low 20 minutes.

Serve with a perfect salad.

Kung pao tofu

Hey, look at us, we actually made something twice! This time, we served the kung pao tofu and vegetables over rice. We didn’t have any fresh ginger, so I subbed about 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger, no mushrooms in the house, but i added edamame. I also made sure to cut up the chilies this time, before adding them to the sauce, so it was nice and spicy. This dish was amazing. Enjoy (again)!

For the complete recipe, click here.