Manchurian-ish Mushrooms

We've been in "Mexi-mode" lately almost exclusively with my testing and restesting recipes for the cookbook. On Friday, I was looking at the website TasteSpotting and decided to do a search of the word "spicy", 'cause that's how I roll. One of the recipes that came up was for Manchurian Mushrooms. The picture was so drool-worthy that I had to go look at the recipe. I sounded absolutely amazing. I sent the recipe and picture to both Brett and Selina (she and I have very similar tastes). Brett, who claims to be "Asian-ed out" took one look at the recipe and agreed that we should try it and soon. Selina was on the same page as me and wanted to make it as soon as possible.

I started from this recipe here. I didn't have some of the stuff on hand and I wanted to make sure that the mushrooms were spicy to my liking and the sauce was sweet to Brett's liking so I tweaked the recipe and provided it below.




You may note some new serving ware here and there. My Nanny Beth (among others) wanted our food to look nicer since we put pictures of it online, so she got us these "rooster bowls" which look really cool with Asian food and some plates for us to use for our "Mexican presentations". Now all I have to do is learn how to use a camera and get some sort of eye for "food fashion". Hell, I am just the cook, Selina, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE PRESENTATION UP TO ME FOR THE COOKBOOK. It would just be bad. You've seen my titles for things and my lack of skill with the camera, you do not want that. :-)

Well, here she be.

The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

J&B's Manchurian-ish Mushrooms
1 pack button mushrooms, rinsed and quartered
3-4 cups peanut oil for frying

Spicy Batter:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn masa
2 tsp (or more!) of chile-garlic sauce (I used Huy Fong)
4 Chiles Japones, crushed with a mortar and pestle (you could also use a food processor or coffee grinder, or just crush them up with your fingers)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
1 cup water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Slowly add the water and mix well, making sure to work out all the clumps.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 small red boiler onions, chopped *
3 banana peppers, seeded and sliced *
2 small green bell peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces *
1 head broccoli, cut into florettes *
1/2 yellow summer squash, cut into large chunks **
1 head Georgian Fire garlic, sliced *
2 tbsp alfalfa honey *
3/4 cup organic ketchup
4 tbsp sweet chile sauce
3 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce)
4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish, optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, peppers, broccoli, and squash and saute stirring often for about 6-8 minutes.

Add the garlic and stir fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Turn the heat down to slightly below medium.

Add the honey, ketchup, chile sauce, and shoyu. Combine well.

Let simmer on low while you batter and fry the mushrooms.

To batter and fry the mushrooms and finish up the dish:

Put your peanut oil in a heavy bottomed small skillet and turn heat on the low end of high (does that make sense?).

Dip the mushrooms pieces in the batter and once oil is heated carefully drop them in the hot oil.

Fry for 6-8 minutes or until mushroom pieces are deep golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain the excess oil. Repeat this process until all the mushrooms are fried.

Put the fried mushrooms into the sweet and sour sauce and stir to coat evenly. Top with cilantro. Serve immediately.

This was really freakin' good. It tasted like something you would get from a restaurant. It isn't the least time consuming of the recipes here on Veg*n Cooking, but it is well worth the effort.

'Til next time!

Peanut-Veggie Soba Noodles

As I'm sure you've all gathered, Mexican is by far our favorite cuisine. Behind that would be various forms of Asian food, particular Thai and Japanese. I'm not very sure as to the "authenticity" of our Asian food - but it's tasty and we like it, so that is really all that matters. As of late, Leng's Fried Rice has made its way nicely into our regular recipe routine - it's so tasty (and versatile, we just use what veggies we have on hand)!

This is, obviously, not Leng's Fried Rice, but it was a quick and easy creation that was filling and takes advantage of all the local yummies we have at our disposal right now. And, because I'm a bit of a spice freak, I douse my serving in sriracha before I eat it, Brett's not a huge fan of the sriracha, it's a bit spicy for his taste, so the hot chile sauce I use in this recipe is a milder variety that I supplement with sriracha to please my "fire tooth". Some have a sweet tooth, I have a spice tooth. And the great thing about Asian food is the sweet and spicy combinations often found, so it's the best of both worlds, and both Brett and I can be satisfied!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

Without further fanfare, here she be!















Peanut-Veggie Soba Noodles

Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
juice of one lime
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp shoyu
2-4 chiles Japones, roughly chopped (or crushed red pepper to taste)
2-3 tbsp hot chile sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1" fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
a pinch of salt

Veggies and Such:
1/2 package of soba noodles

shredded cabbage **
chopped rainbow chard *
carrots, sliced into thin matchsticks
yellow squash, sliced into thin matchsticks ***
zucchini, sliced into thin matchsticks ***
1/2 an onion, sliced thin *
1/2 a red bell pepper, sliced thin *

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain once cooked.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the chiles, ginger, and garlic and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and combine well.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon or two or sesame oil over medium or medium-low heat. Add all the veggies and stir-fry until they begin to char.

Toss pasta with veggies and sauce and enjoy warm.

This was really good, we both really like soba noodles, and when we discovered that buckwheat attracts predatory insects, we were pretty excited as soba noodles are made from buckwheat.

'Til next time.

Sesame Ginger Soba Noodles and Thanksgiving in May?

For dinner a few nights ago, I made a Sesame Ginger sauce, since I haven't been able to eat completely solid foods, we served it over soba noodles, instead of rice and veggies which we usually prefer. I also added some adzuki beans to it. I wouldn't normally pair beans and noodles, as the beans sink to the bottom, but I've been needing protein.

The sauce turned out really well, Brett raved about it, probably because it was sweet. :-)

Sesame Ginger Soba Noodles (with optional adzuki beans)

Sesame Ginger Sauce:

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp ginger, minced

4 Chiles Japones, minced

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tbsp agave

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tbsp seasoned brown rice vinegar

2-4 tbsp hot water

cayenne (optional)

1/2 package of soba noodles (buckwheat noodles)

1 cup adzuki beans, cooked (optional)

sesame seeds (optional)

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the garlic, ginger and Chiles Japones and cook for about 10 minutes. Add all the other ingredients (except the cayenne), and simmer on low while the noodles are cooking.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

When noodles are finished, drain and rinse. Top with aduzki beans, sauce, sesame seeds and cayenne.

(If you want a thicker sauce, you can dissolve 1 tsp of arrowroot in a couple of tbsp of water, mix it in the sauce, bring it to a boil and remove it from the heat as soon as it is at the desired thickness.)

So, I have been running out of ideas for soft-ish things to eat, and to be completely honest, I am sick of soba noodles with sauce, mashed beans, and especially applesauce. Which is a shame, because I used to love applesauce, I've just been living off of it for a week.

Brett came up with the idea of cooking up a bunch of 'Thanksgiving-ish' sides, since they are all soft and savory, something I haven't had much of this week. So he went to the store and even cooked half of the dinner.

Brett steamed some carrots, cooked up a few cranberry beans, and made his world famous (ok, well I think they should be considered world famous) Garlicky Mashed Potatoes, when he makes them, they always turn out better than when I do it. Part of his bag of tricks includes using Silk Soy Creamer instead of regular soy, rice or hemp milk and using red potatoes instead of russet. It gives the potatoes a richer flavor.

Anyways, I made Veganomicon's Mushroom Gravy (so good!), steamed some spinach and prepared some vegan stuffing (from an organic mix bought from the store made with veggie broth). It was really good and hit the spot.

I think my stomach has shrunk, well, and my eyes were far bigger than my belly, I couldn't eat nearly all of this. I was stoked that there were leftovers so I can enjoy this again at lunch today.

I'm making Lentil and Potato soft tacos tonight! I think I can do the tortillas, just maybe not fried yet, the healing process is moving along quite quickly and I am starting to feel brave enough to 'test the waters'.

'Til next time!

Spicy Chipotle-Citrus Marinated Veggie Fajitas

Ah, these were really spicy and really good. Both Brett and I agreed this meal was a major hit! I do think, though, that next time, I will reduce the amount of hot peppers in the fajitas as it was a bit on the spicy side for Brett.

The marinade really pulls the whole meal together, the sweetness of the marinade complements both the spiciness of the peppers and the savory flavor of the potatoes and mushrooms. Yum!















Veggies marinating.















Yummy cooked veggies!















This meal was served 'family style', Brett and I shared a plate of warmed tortillas, a bowl of olives and a bowl of guacamole. We each had our own bowls of veggies and sauce.

Spicy Chipotle-Citrus Veggie Fajitas

Chipotle-Citrus Marinade:
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 2 limes
4 Chiles Japones, minced (dried de Arbol chilies would be even better)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp good olive oil
4 chipotle chilies in adobo, minced
3 tbsp dry cilantro
cumin
salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

The Veggies:
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
2 serranos, seeded and sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced
2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used half a pack of baby portobellos and half a pack of white button mushrooms)
2 small red potatoes, sliced

Combine veggies with marinade, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour (about 4 hours is perfect).

Once marinated, heat a large skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the veggies and a few spoonfuls of marinade. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until veggies are soft. You may need to add more marinade to the pan, and covering the pan with a lid will really reduce cooking time, but won't get the potatoes golden brown.

The other stuff:
fajita sized tortillas
can black olives, drained
guacamole
Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce

Enjoy!

This was really good, but if you don't like a lot of spice, I would recommend reducing the hot peppers, and maybe just adding an additional red or yellow bell pepper.

I love the combination of spicy peppers and tart, sweet citrus, it really works.

Well, I'm caught up now!

'Til next time!

Whole Wheat Black Bean, Mushroom and Olive Empanadas

These were really good, but they do take a fair amount of time. I spaced it all throughout the day, so it didn't seem like much, but the meal does take a couple hours in total. The time is well worth it.

The dough is a work in progress, but it was very tasty for my first attempt.

These are the basic ingredients in Empanada Sauce.

A picture of the New Mexican chilies toasted.

Empanada Sauce simmering.

The finished product. This sauce is really good.

Empanada Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cup.

Note: This is not a spicy sauce. It would also go well with tacos, tostadas and taco salads.

4 dried red New Mexican chilies

5 dried Chiles Japones

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

6 tomatillos, husks removed and quartered

1/4 red onion, minced

1 cup water

juice of half a lime

cumin

salt

Heat a griddle on medium heat for about 2 minutes.

Place chilies and unpeeled garlic on the griddle and toast until slightly black on each side, about 3 minutes on each side. Let the garlic cool just a bit and peel, remove stems from chilies and halve.

Simmer all the ingredients in a sauce pan until tomatillos are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove the chilies from the sauce.

Transfer the rest of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until very smooth.

If the sauce needs to be spicier, add bits of the chile at a time. (I left one of the chiles in.)

This sauce lasts about a week in the fridge and freezes well.

Black bean, mushroom, olive and veggie filling.

Empanada ready to be folded up.

Baked and ready to eat.

Mini empanadas.

Whole Wheat Black Bean, Mushroom and Olive Empanadas

I made two large empanadas for our dinner and then used a cookie cutter to make mini empanadas for snacks as there wasn't really enough worth freezing.

Dough:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup corn meal

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp Earth Balance (I use the non-hydrogenated organic kind)

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 cup warm water

cumin

chipotle chili powder

cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and spices.

Using a knife, cut the Earth Balance into the flour.

Using a fork to combine ingredients, start adding the vinegar and water in batches. The mixture should be just combined and still lumpy.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a time or two.

Put back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in circles, the size is dependent on how large you want the empanadas.

Filling:

1 cup black beans, cooked

1/2 cup sweet corn, cooked

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 red onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can chopped black olives, drained
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

1 cup white mushrooms, finely minced

chipotle chili powder

cumin

1 tbsp dried cilantro

salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine cooked veggies with beans and corn.

In the same skillet, heat a few more tablespoons of water. Add the mushrooms, season and cook until soft about 10 minutes.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Putting it all together:

Layer filling in empanada dough circle. Crimp edges with a fork to close. Mositen edges with a bit of water while crimping.

Bake for 15-20 (for large ones, about 10 for mini empanadas) minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with empanada sauce. Yum!

'Til next time.

Potato, Veggie and Wild Rice Burros with Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce and Tomatillo Guacamole

This might, at first, seem like a very strange combination of ingredients to use in Mexican food. But I've learned that so long as you get the seasoning right, you can pair all sorts of interesting things together and get a fairly 'authentic' taste.

Note: This sauce is quite spicy. I would suggest using it sparingly, and if you aren't into spice, perhaps skip this sauce. Also, we are going to try this using a mix of long grain brown and wild rice next time, I think it would be even better that way.

Jalapeno-Tomatillo Sauce















Makes 3 cups

3 tomatillos, husked and chopped
15 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced
1/2 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of cilantro, washed and shredded
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
cumin
white pepper
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the peppers and onion and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatillos and cook an additional 5 minutes. Transfer veggies to a food processor.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until very smooth and fairly thin, adding the liquid in batches.

This will last about a week in the fridge and freezes well. I kept one cup out to use this week and froze two, one cup portions for later use.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas, Taco Salads, Burritos and Burros, Quesadillas, Fajitas, Flautas, Nachos

Spicy Tomatillo Guacamole
1 avocado, peeled and mashed
1 clove garlic, minced
4 Chiles Japones, minced (or crushed red pepper)
chipotle chili powder
cumin
dash of cayenne (optional)
salt
juice of half a lime

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and chill for about a half hour to let the flavors blend.

Potato, Veggie and Wild Rice Burros

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
dash cinnamon
pinch unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt coconut oil in a baking dish in the oven.

Combine the potatoes and spices and bake,covered with foil, for 30-35 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

1/2 cup frozen green beans, cooked
1 zucchini, roasted and sliced
4 serrano peppers, minced
1 habanero, minced
1 poblano pepper, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup cooked wild rice
salt

tortillas
spicy tomatillo guacamole
jalapeno-tomatillo green sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet.

Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess water and combine veggies in a small bowl and season with salt.

Layer rice, potatoes, veggies and some Jalapeno-Tomatillo sauce if you desire. Fry if you like andserve with spicy tomatillo guacamole.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I used to be averse to the idea of buying fresh spices as I didn't know what to do with an entire bunch. Well, I am still fairly averse with most fresh spices, though I'm going to be getting some through our CSA, so I better get over that. However, I will buy cilantro. After I've used what I need, we wash the rest of the bunch and hang it upside to dry. Then we use it as a dried spice. It's really easy and works great on most herbs.

If you notice, there are two jalapenos back there too. I've slit them and am hanging them in a first attempt to dry peppers (in anticipation of having to preserve some of my hopefully abundant pepper yield). I've looked into it fairly extensively, and from what I've read, all you have to do is slit them, hang them in a non-humid area and wait. We'll see.

'Til next time.

Sweet Potato and Corn Enchiladas with Sweet and Spicy Enchilada Sauce and Toasted Pepitas

The inspiration for this meal came from Main Squeeze, the vegetarian restaurant here in Columbia. I get their daily specials in my email, as I work near there, and will have lunch there if the special is good (they even deliver - by bike, to the university). This special was vegetarian, so I decided to try making something inspired by it at home, I loved the idea of a sweet potato and corn enchilada.

I didn't think a regular 'ol enchilada sauce would do either. So I got creative, and with a few special ingredients, ended up with a smoky, sweet and spicy enchilada sauce that accented the sweetness of the potatoes and corn quite well.

Without further ado!















Sweet and Spicy Enchilada Sauce
1 can no-salt added tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Chiles Japones, minced (or crushed red pepper flakes)
juice of half a lime
1 tbsp agave
1 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
2 tsp organic cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp dried cilantro
dash cinnamon
cumin
chili powder
cayenne pepper (optional but recommended)
Mexican oregano
salt

Heat the water in a small sauce pan. Add the onions and cook for about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and Chiles Japones and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low while you prepare the rest of the meal.









































Sweet Potato and Corn Enchiladas with Toasted Pepitas
1 seasoned roasted yam
1/2 cup corn, cooked
1/2 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced
2 serrano peppers, roasted and sliced
1/4 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced

cooked brown rice, warmed
cumin
chili powder
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
cayenne
salt

spicy red enchilada sauce
6 corn tortillas
toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds, optional)
tofu sour cream
guacamole

NOTE: I roasted the peppers while the sweet potato was cooking and the rice was made ahead of time.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onions and cook for about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess water and add veggies to the cooked corn.

Once peppers have finished roasted, add the sliced peppers to the cooked corn mixture.

Season the warmed rice.

Make the guacamole and refrigerate until needed.

If using toasted pepitas, heat an unoiled skillet for about two minutes. Add the pepitas and stir frequently, until pepitas slightly browned.

Once potatoes finished, turn oven heat down to 350.

Layer enchilada sauce in the botton of a large baking dish.

Layer a small amount of rice, sweet potatoes, and the corn/veggie mixture inside a warmed corn tortilla. Roll up and transfer to the baking dish.

Top with a bit more enchilada sauce.

Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes.

Top the enchiladas with the toasted pepitas and bake for another 5 minutes.

Serve with guacamole and tofu sour cream.

Yummy, yummy, yummy! I might be getting this Mexican thing down.

I know I'm going to have to tackle empanadas soon, I have so many ideas for fillings, oooooh and I can wait until dried corn husks are available, we're talking tamales! And soon I'll need to try the flautas recipes I've created, and well, there is all sorts of stuff that needs to be tried.

'Til next time!

Anasazi and Millet Quesadillas with New Mexican Red Chile Sauce and Avocado 'Cream'

What a mouthful!

This meal was absolutely wonderful. I really, really like Anasazi beans, and encourage anyone who can get a hold of some to try them, they are fantastic. However, if you cannot locate Anasazi beans, but would still like to make this meal, a combination of pinto and kidney, or small red beans would work well in place of the Anasazi.

We really like millet, but don’t use it nearly enough, it found a wonderful application in this dish, if you can’t find or don’t like millet, quinoa or rice would work just fine too. I really liked how the nuttiness of the millet worked with the sweetness of the corn, the flavor of the shiitake mushrooms, the hotness of the peppers, and the mildness of the beans, all around this was a great dish and we’ll definitely have it again.

Also, I used homemade tofu sour cream as the base of my avocado ‘cream’. Brett makes the tofu sour cream and does a much better job than I do, so we’ll keep it that way. Both Brett and I agree, in sauces and baked goods, silken tofu is perfectly acceptable, however when comes to using regular old tofu in main dishes, we do have well, one dish I can think of offhand that we like tofu in (Tofu and Potato Burritos). Anyways, if you wanted to make the avocado ‘cream’ but didn’t want to make the tofu sour cream yourself, I’m sure using one of those premade tubs of it would work fine too, I’ve never had it though, so I can’t vouch for it.

A couple of notes: The New Mexican Red Chile Sauce is not spicy; the pepper sauce is actually oddly sweet. Unfortunately, I don’t think any other peppers could be used in place of the New Mexican chilies here, but I was able to find a bag of dried at the grocery store here in Columbia, so I imagine many people in the United States would be able to find them somewhere. I made this sauce in the morning to allow ample time for the flavors to blend.

New Mexican Red Chile Sauce is a sauce to be used sparingly. While it isn’t spicy it is very flavorful in the way that Tabasco and Louisiana Hot Sauce are. Brett liked it in that he thought it was more versatile than those other sauces as it would work in Mexican, Southern, on pizzas, sandwiches, etc. Next time I might try making this using a different vinegar.

A dried red New Mexican chile.

Red New Mexican Chile Sauce:

Makes about 1 1/2 cups sauce.

12 dried red New Mexican chile peppers, stems removed

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup hot water

1 tbsp good olive oil

a few pinches of dried cilantro

dash Mexican oregano

couple of dashes of cumin

dash paprika

couple of dashes of salt

Rehydrate the 1/2 the chilies in the vinegar for about an hour, rehydrate the other half in hot water for the same period of time.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow flavors to blend.

NOTE: This sauce freezes well, though because of all the vinegar, it will keep for quite some time in the fridge, at least a couple of months.

FOR: Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Tacos, Tostadas, Burritos or Burros, Fajitas

Chiles Japones.

Avocado 'Cream'

Makes about 1 cup Avocado 'Cream'

1/2 cup tofu sour cream

1 ripe avocado, cut in large chunks

juice of 1/2 a lime

1 clove garlic, peeled

4 Chiles Japones minced (I left the seeds in two of them) or cayenne pepper

cumin

salt

Blend in a food processor until smooth.

Anasazi and Millet Quesadilla with New Mexican Red Chile Sauce and Avocado 'Cream'

Serves 2

Cooking Time: 1 hour - I already had the beans and millet prepared in advance (including sauce preparation, 2 hours, much of it idle)

2 cups anasazi beans, cooked

1 cup millet, cooked

1/2 cup corn, cooked

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, roasted and sliced

3 serrano peppers, roasted and sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, roasted and sliced

ground coriander

paprika

chipotle chili powder

cumin

salt

vegan Monterey jack (optional)

tortillas

New Mexican Red Chile Sauce

avocado cream

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add mushrooms, garlic and onions and cook until soft about 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, toss warmed beans and millet with the spices.

Once veggies done, drain any excess water and add to the cooked corn.

Layer bean and millet mixture, corn and mushroom mixture, roasted veggies, vegan jack, and a little bit of New Mexican Red Chile Sauce in a warmed tortilla.

Fry if desired and top with avocado 'cream'.

Super yummy.

'Til next time.

Happy Friday!

So I am really looking forward to this weekend, as I will be using Veganomicon for the first time! I am really excited about it. Stay tuned to see how my first dance with V-Con goes!

Last night’s dinner was a yummy General Tao’s Tofu stir-fry. Something kind of funny about this though. I guess Veggie and I are on the same wavelength, because she made it this week as well too. We even adapted our recipes from the same one on VegWeb. What an interesting world, I guess some of us veg*n’s think alike, eh? Anyways, you might pop over and check hers out as her photography is generally much better than my own, not to mention, I don't have a picture of the stir-fry because of user error.

You see, I often take multiple pictures when I photograph my recipes to make sure that I get a good picture. Well, I was going through them on my computer, found the one I wanted. At least thought I selected the one I had chosen, and then deleted the rest. Well, I went to upload the photo, and it was one of the grainy, bad pictures, and I lost the rest as I had already deleted them. Argh.

But anyways, I went a slightly different direction with this, opting for a spicier, savory sauce, so my recipe for the sauce is quite a bit different from the template I started out with on VegWeb.

Here she be (in the words of Wilbur)!

General Tao’s Sauce
onion chopped (I diced up about a quarter of an onion)
diced red chilies to taste (dry if possible, substitute crushed red pepper if can't find chilies)
cayenne pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp ginger, minced
1-2 tbsp garlic, minced
2/3 cup vegetable broth
2-3 tbsp shoyu (add a bit at a time, and then add more if needed)
3-6 tbsp sugar (more or less depending on your desired level of sweetness)
1-2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp corn starch
splash of hot chili oil for good measure

Sautee onions, garlic, and ginger. Mix all ingredients together. Add cornstarch to thicken shortly before serving.

General Tao’s Tofu Stir-Fry
Tofu:
1/2 block tofu cut into small cubes that has been marinated in a bit of General Tao's sauce for at least 30 minutes
corn starch
pinch sugar
egg replacer for one egg
peanut or sesame oil

Stir-Fry:
General Tao's Sauce
onion, chopped
broccoli, cooked
cauliflower, cooked
edamame, cooked
Hot, cooked brown Basmati Rice

Mix together egg replacer (mixed with water according to package directions) and coat tofu in it.

In a small bowl, combine corn starch and sugar. Cover tofu in dry mixture. Heat some peanut or sesame oil in skillet and fry tofu until golden brown.

Top hot cooked rice with cooked veggies, tofu and desired amount of sauce.

You know, stir-fries are very good, but I’m a bit stir-fried out. I probably won’t devote an entire week to a particular type of food again, but I got a lot of good recipes to add to my collection.

I want to thank those who gave me suggestions on good vegan cookbooks, it was very helpful. I have placed an order for Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan on Amazon, and will probably look into getting Vegan with a Vengeance in a couple of weeks once I have tried a few things from V-Con and ED&BV.

Well, I am a bit tired after a long week of dealing with data (sounds so fun I know), and lugging a nice, big load of grub home from the store, so I’m off to make a quick dinner and to listen to Democracy Now!

Happy Friday!