Lots of Tasty Goodness

Wow, so there has been a lot going on around here lately. I won't bore you all with the details, but I will say it has been work-related - though not my being busy with work. Other than that, Brett and I have been doing just dandy. I have been cooking up a storm as I haven't been working so have had plenty of time to make more involved meals.

I have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen, though I admit, it looks like a disaster area much of the time. :-) It seems that just as I finish one pile of dishes, it is time to eat again. And, while cooking at home is certainly more nourishing and even cost-effective, and well, damn better tasting, it does mean that there will be yet more dishes. I think that dishes and aphids in my garden are going to be my lifelong "Newman" to use a Seinfeld colloquialism.

Anywho, enough of my complaining and onto the goods!


My mom bought us a juicer for Christmas a few years ago, and for whatever reason, we used it once or twice and then it was relegated to the top of the cabinet that I like to refer to as the "Land of Misfit Appliances". Well, I have been wanting to incorporate more raw fruit and veg into my diet, because, well, I like them, and I decided to bust it out again. It has been making up for lost time! We use it all the time now.

One of my favorite juices is nothing special and something I'm sure most of you are already familiar with: Carrot Apple Juice. It is so simple. I just juice 6 apples (my favorite to use are Pink Lady or Honeycrisp, they are tart but also still plenty sweet) and about 8-10 peeled carrots. Stir it up and you are set. Brett even likes these and I got to tell you, there is no way in hell I would get Brett to eat 8-10 raw carrots, but I learned he will drink them. :-)


Wanting something a little different, I came up with this lovely algae looking concoction. I made the Carrot Apple Juice as described above. I them transferred the juice to a blender where I added two bananas, 1 tbsp. spirulina powder, and about 12 ice cubes. Then I just whirred it up! It makes enough for three meal-sized glasses. I know it doesn't look that good, but it certainly doesn't taste how it looks.


There is a blog I really enjoy called Herbivoracious. The author provides mostly authentic Latin/Mexican recipes that have been "vegetarianized". I find that I go there and not only want to try some of his recipes, but I get ideas for my own. You should seriously check out his blog, it is really cool.


I saw a recipe on his blog awhile back for Bocoles. Bocoles are bean and corn masa patties that are then fried. They are a popular Latin street food and don't they look damn tasty? Well they are. I adapted his recipe a little bit using refried pinto beans instead of black and using carrots instead of sweet potatoes for the spicy topping.

I also made a nice spicy table chile sauce to go with it. It is really spicy so use sparingly.

de Arbol-New Mexico Table Sauce
6 de arbol chiles, wiped clean
4 New Mexico chiles, wiped clean
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
salt (to taste)

Heat up a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the chiles on both sides being careful not to burn them. This should take less than 20-30 seconds on each side. You can often see the color being intensified and this is a good sign that they are ready to be flipped.

Once the chiles are toasted, let cool for a few minutes. Then remove stem, seeds and ribs. Transfer to a blender or bowl and pour the boiling water over the chiles and cover. Let the chiles reconstitute for about 15-20 minutes.

Then add the garlic, citrus juice, and salt and blend.

Now you have yourself a basic table chile sauce. You can use whatever dried chiles you want for this recipe. Making a basic table sauce is also a good way to get to know the different flavors and subtleties of each chile.


I had lots of refried beans left over from the Bocoles, so I decided to turn the remaining beans into a nice soup. And it sure was tasty!

Refried Bean Bisque
2-4 tbsp safflower oil
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 pimento sweet peppers, seeded and chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 cup refried pinto beans
4-6 cups water
salt to taste

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat, as though you were stir-frying veggies.

Add the potatoes, chiles, and onion, and fry for about 10 minutes until they start to get a little color. By caramelizing the veg, we will get a much deeper array of flavors than if you simply boiled them.

Add the garlic and fry for about 5 minutes, until the garlic begins to get fragrant.

Add the refried beans and water and simmer, covered, for about an hour or until all the veggies are nice and soft.

Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

Using a wire mesh strainer, begin to strain the soup over the soup pot in batches.

Once done, heat thoroughly and add salt to taste.

Side Note: If you have a vermicomposting system as we do (a worm farm), the left over veggie pulp from both soup making and juice making is the perfect food for a hungry worm. This also means that there is absolutely no waste. That I dig. Pun intended. ;-)


I don't know how everyone else feels about this, but I think that soup on it's own is just not going to cut it. I needs bread to make it a complete and satisfying meal.

Now, I will be the first to admit that breadmaking is not my forte. I am more of a punk in the kitchen, I like to let things happen organically and with breadmaking, you can't really do that. Let's just say I have had a lot of messy failures in my attempts at breadmaking.

This was one of my more successful attempts and I even managed to "punk it up" a little.

I used this recipe for Whole Wheat Rolls, but instead of the herbs used in the recipe, I kneaded in ten jalapenos, ten cloves of minced garlic, 1 tbsp cumin, and 1 tbsp Mexican oregano. Instead of making small rolls, I made six large-ish loaves. After they were baked, I brushed the tops with butter and sliced them into breadsticks, which we dipped in that tasty soup.


And finally, though it doesn't look like much, this is the gem of this post. This is the best soup I have ever made/had. It was an idea I had when I wanted to be lazy, but still have something tasty and healthy and I never imagined it to be as amazing as it really is.

This is like the Mexican equivalent to Chicken Noodle Soup, except without the icky meat. It is comforting like you wouldn't believe and it has perhaps the most amazing smell I have ever had the pleasure of smelling. And it is EASY TO MAKE.

I am not one to toot my own horn but this really is an amazing soup. I encourage you all to try this and let me know what you think. Maybe I'm just crazy, but it seems like the perfect comfort food to me.

Black Bean-Tomatillo Soup
1 onion, chopped
4 jalapenos, seeded and minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can tomatillos, chopped
2 cups black beans, cooked
4-6 cups water
a couple dashes of cumin
salt to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped fine

In a large soup pot, combine all the ingredients except the cilantro. Simmer, covered for 2-3 hours or until the veggies are soft.

Right before serving, stir in cilantro.

Serve with saltine crackers and enjoy!

That really is all you do. It is such a clear soup, it tastes and smells so clean. The cilantro added at the end gives it the crisp brightness and the tomatillos add an almost lime like flavor.

Brett and I were talking and thought that if you removed the beans, added cucumber, and pureed the whole mess that it would also make a nice cold soup for summer. Very refreshing.

Well, that's all for now.

'Til next time!

Things To Stuff In A Tortilla (and some other random things)

Check out the new blog layout! I was doing some other "administrative" tasks and decided I wanted to make a little change. I hope it is still easy to read and navigate - comments are welcome.

I also re-did the recipe index. It was quite hard to navigate and required lots of scrolling. Some funky things also happened with the HTML and it would have been a pain in the ass to try to fix manually, so I just started fresh and created a new index. I hope this one is easier to manage.

And finally, I also updated the J's Recommended Reads post, it was out-of-date and also needed a bit of editing.

Needless to say, lots of work has been going on behind the scenes here at Veg*n Cooking.

It has been quite a week or so too with the arrival of Butters. Things are slowly moving along, but the "peace" between the cats is tentative. And Butters is a kitten - all he wants to do is play and whenever the other cats come to try to sniff him, he bats at them and changes the whole mood entirely. He is kind of a punk though - he has a tendency to bite, which we are hoping we can discourage him from doing (it hurts, the little shit!) and he bothers the other kitties when they try to go to the bathroom and that is frustrating too. But he's also really sweet. He likes t have his belly and chin rubbed, he lets you hold him and get in his face, and he is really soft.

Admittedly, he has been far more interested in Gabby and Nermal than Brett or I and I am just having to deal with that at the moment and try not to smother him in love like I want to. :-)

When Butters was found, he was starving in a dumpster - on his vet forms they called him "Orange Dumpster Kitty" at first. When I read that on the papers the first day we had him, it made me tear up a little bit - it is pretty sad, BUT he was lucky. In the little over a week he has been here, he has put on weight, his coat looks shiner and thicker, his coloring is brighter, and he is active and playing. Hopefully things stay on the up and up and the little guy is okay. He was found during an unreasonably cold time here in Missouri - it is hard to believe her survived. But he made friends at the vets office, they sent him with food, bowls, a bed, toys, medicine, all sorts of stuff. It is amazing what a cute kitten can do to a person. :-) He is gaining weight incredibly quickly. I had taken to calling him "Butter Bean", but I might have to start calling him "Butter Ball". :-)

Check out some recent pictures.


I love the tongue!


Brett did buy this giant stuffed elephant (we call him Packie) for me, but both Nermal and Butters have claimed him and I don't have the heart to take him from them. I mean, see?


So cute when he isn't biting you...


Gabby doesn't realize that Butters is sleeping with her. :-)



Though this picture is blurry, it is my favorite we have of Gabby - it captures her essence - curious and super sweet.

Alright, enough with the kitties and onto the food!

What follows are three simple meals - 30 minutes or less, that are tasty when stuffed into a tortilla or taco shell. We really like our tortillas and taco shells...


Option #1
2 tbsp safflower oil
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 red New Mexican chiles, chopped
1/4 cup sweet corn
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup black beans
salt

Heat oil in a large skilled and add the potatoes and cover, stirring often, for about ten minutes or until they begin to soften a little bit.

Add the onion, chiles, and corn. Cook for an additional ten minutes.

Add the garlic and beans and cook for an additional five to ten minutes.

Stuff ingredients in a warmed tortilla and serve with super hot salsa!

If you eat cheese, Manchego is a good addition to this option.


Option #2
2 tbsp safflower oil
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup sweet corn
1/2 cup black beans
chipotle chile powder
New Mexican oregano
cumin
salt

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the sweet potato and cook for about ten to fifteen minutes until the begin to caramelize and soften.

Add the corn and black beans and season to taste. Cook until heated through.

Again, you just need to stuff your ingredients into a warmed tortilla and serve.

If you eat cheese, Cotija is a good pairing with this option.


Option #3 (Vegetarian)
2 tbsp safflower oil
2 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
5-6 baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt
2 eggs, scrambled

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, mushrooms, and onions and cook for about fifteen minutes or until potatoes begin to brown and soften. Stir often.

Add the garlic and season with salt to taste. Cook for an additional five to ten minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Layer potato mixture in a warmed tortilla and top with some scrambled egg. Enjoy!

If you eat cheese/dairy - shredded Mexican cheese blend and/or sour cream are a nice addition to this option.

And now for something completely different...


Doesn't that just look so darn appetizing? Well, it might not look good, but it sure tastes good.

J's Pink Egg Salad
1 egg, hardboiled and chopped
2 tbsp yellow onion, chopped
1/2 small carrot, peeled and microplaned (hence the pink color)
2 tbsp hot pepper relish (instead of the cucumber kind, I like spicy, that's just how I roll)
2-3 tbsp mayo or Veganaise
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
a few dashes of cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and adjust ingredients to your liking.

I serve this on toasted Jewish rye bread with lots of baby spinach.

And finally, here are a couple of other things I've made as of late...


Banana cake! I had some bananas on the counter I've been using for smoothies get a little too ripe on me, so what to do? Make banana bread! Brett and I prefer it to be more "cakelike" than "breadlike", so I just used my Banana Bread recipe but put it in an 8x8 pan and cooked it for an hour instead of an hour and fifteen minutes or more.

I also used all whole wheat pastry flour instead of just part.


When Brett was at the store the other day, they were out of his beloved cookies. I have been in a bit of a baking mood so I decided I would make him some. I just used my Super Yummy Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and subbed in a mixture of M&M's and Reese's Pieces for the chocolate chips. He hasn't missed his store bought cookies after all...

AND - I was able to get at least something semi-wholesome into his cookies but using whole wheat pastry flour. :-)

'Til next time.

Southwestern Lentil and Veggie Bisque

I've been on a soup kick for quite some time now, so nobody should be surprised that this is...yet another soup post.

I have been into trying out smooth soups lately, perfecting the arduous process of pressing everything through a wire mesh strainer feels like quite an accomplishment when you get a beautiful tasty soup in the end. And it is a good arm workout.

So without further fanfare...


















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

Southwestern Lentil and Veggie Bisque

1 cup green lentils, rinsed
water

2-3 tbsp safflower oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped *
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped *
4 New Mexico chiles, seeded and chopped (red if you can get 'em) *
1 red onion, sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced **
3 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed *
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup sweet corn
1 tomato, cored and chopped **
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/4 cup cilantro *
cumin to taste
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Put lentils in a small sauce pan and fill with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer until done, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat and saute peppers, onions, potatoes, carrot, and corn until they begin to soften, about 15-20 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook for an additional ten minutes.

Tranfer veggies to a blender or food processor and puree. Add the veggie broth and cilantro. Slowly add the lentils (with cooking liquid) in small batches and puree until smooth.

Over a large soup pot, smash the mixture through a wire mesh strainer.

The resulting soup should be very smooth.

Season to taste with cumin, salt, and pepper.

This was a really tasty soup and quite filling too!

I will be working on updating the recipe index this evening, as well as responding to the comments I have been neglecting (I suck sometimes).

I hope everyone is have a great weekend!

'Til next time.

Super Beany Chili

I have been a pretty bad blogger lately, I could make a bunch of excuses, but really, I don't have many good ones, and the good ones I do have aren't the reason for my lack of blogging, I've just been lazy. We have been cooking though, still mostly "tried and true" recipes, especially since I found some of the first season's local tomatoes! I went to the Root Cellar the other day to get some local salad greens and saw the table full of gorgeous red delights as soon as I walked in. I made a beeline to them and asked the woman there in disbelief, "Are these local?!?" Indeed they are, from somewhere south of Jefferson City, Missouri. I think they have to have been grown in a greenhouse, but it has been beyond wonderful having local tomatoes again. I was surprised at what a wonderful, rich, tomatoey flavor they have. I should have got a picture of them, but I didn't and we are down to just a couple now any way. And those we will be using very shortly. We also got the above mentioned local salad greens, local shiitake mushrooms, and St. Louis made Dijon-Garlic-Lemon-Balsamic Vinaigrette. It is a mouthful, but it is delicious.

Anyways, we made this chili :blush: a couple of weeks ago. It was seriously tasty and we've enjoyed in by itself, with tortilla chips, on baked potatoes, and even on waffle fries (I've been contemplating tater tots too). Since making chili is a process, I made a huge batch and froze a good portion of it for later use. We've been taking a container of it out of the freezer in the evening, and it'll be ready for dinner the next night, wahoo!

















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

Super Beany Chili
2 cups dark red kidney beans +, soaked overnight with a dried cayenne pepper *** and a dried New Mexican Chile
1/2 cup pinto beans ****, soaked overnight with a dried cayenne pepper *** and a dried New Mexican Chile
1/2 cup black beans ****, soaked overnight with a dried cayenne pepper *** and a dried New Mexican Chile
1/2 cup Anasazi beans ****, soaked overnight with a dried cayenne pepper *** and a dried New Mexican Chile
2 cans fire roasted crushed tomatoes
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 red onion, chopped + (not local)
1 yellow onion, chopped + (not local)
6 cloves of garlic, minced + (not local)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped *** (frozen from last year)
3 Hot Hungarian Wax peppers, cut into rings *** (frozen from last year)
dried cilantro flakes +
ground cumin
chili powder
chipotle chili powder
salt
1 cup green lentils, rinsed

Soak beans and dried peppers overnight. Drain and rinse the beans and remove the peppers.

Combine beans in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover about two inches. Boil over medium heat for about 2 1/2 hours, covered. Make sure to check the water level occasionally, you may have to add more.

Add the tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, peppers, and spices. Simmer covered on medium-low for another two hours. Check the doneness of the beans.

Once the beans are close to being fully cooked, check the spice level and add more if necessary. Add the lentils and simmer for about 40 minutes or until lentils are fully cooked.

This was really yummy chili. I've mentioned before that I had "chili'd Brett out", but it turns out that my chili is generally too volcanically hot for anyone but me. So I don't overdo the spice and I add sriracha, cayenne pepper, dried habaneros, or hot chili garlic sauce to my dishes to achieve my desired spice level.

Well, I've been trying to jump start my pilates routine again. I used to do pilates at least three times a week, and that is saying something for someone who hates exercise. It really made me feel good, I had more energy, more stamina, and I looked, well, a little nicer. I've wanted to get back into it for awhile, so I figured summer and a wedding were pretty good motivation to get started. I also decided I would like to do some "booty exercises" (I am a size 2 girl with a size 4 behind), and get some upper body strength. I have damn strong legs and can carry quite a bit on my back, but the damn 5 lb. weights are almost too much for me. I started my "exercise regimen" yesterday and today I feel like someone ran over me. And I only worked out for about 30 minutes. :-( Now I am off to do pilates, and then probably take a hot bath and hide in my recliner the rest of the evening.

I'll tell you what, the pilates can stay around, but all this strength training, I don't think I will do this very long, I don't want to look all ripped and scary, I just don't want to be one of those bizarre "fat skinny people" anymore.

Oh, woe is me, am I right?

Have a good weekend everyone.

'Til next time!

Black Bean, Brown Rice, and Red Chile-Sweet Potato Burritos

Happy Election Day! I hope all our readers from the US go out and cast their votes today!

I thought some of the readers of this blog might be starting to wonder where all the Mexican food was. Don't worry, we've been having plenty of it, we've just been having some of our "tried and true" meals lately while some of the yummies of the growing season are still around. I have all sorts of ideas on how to "Mexicanize" a lot of the local food we put up for winter - I'm pretty excited about that.

This meal was really good, albeit, with the sauce, it is a little involved, so this probably isn't a weeknight meal (unless the sauce is already made, then this would be a 45 minutes or less meal). The sauce that I used for the potatoes, Chile Colorado, is often also used as an enchilada sauce. I really like the way the semi-spiciness of the sauce complemented the sweet potatoes, and they managed to get a nice glaze too.

The sauce isn't really all that spicy, at least not to me. New Mexican Chiles are very mild, so if you don't like things spicy, omit the cayennes and just use the New Mexican Chiles. The pepper and onion studded beans, some plain brown rice, and Chile Colorado smothered roasted sweet potatoes came together to make one of those meals where there isn't a whole lot of talkin' just a lot of shoveling food into one's face. Not a pretty sight I'm sure, but it lets you know that we really liked this.

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms















Chile Colorado
Makes about 3 cups.
Adapted from this recipe at Pepper Fool.

3 oz. dried New Mexican Chiles, washed, stems removed and seeds discarded (I saved them to plant next year, it is how I got the seeds for the plant we had this year)
3-5 dried long red cayenne peppers, washed, stems removed and seeds discarded ***
3 cups of boiling water
1 vidalia onion, cut in half *
2 cloves of garlic, peeled *
a few dashes of Mexican oregano
a few dashes of cumin
a pinch of salt

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer on low for about an hour. Make sure to add water if needed throughout the process to keep the chiles covered.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Puree in a food processor until well blended.

Some people will then strain the sauce for a smooth sauce, but we don't mind a little chunkiness so we just ate it as is.

Black Bean, Rice, and Red Chile-Sweet Potato Burritos
2 cups of black beans, cooked ****
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked ****
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced *
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced *
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
1 small yellow onion, minced **
cumin
ground coriander
black pepper
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers, garlic and onion. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Red Chile Potatoes:
safflower (or other) oil in a mister
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed *
1 cup Chile Colorado * and ***

Preheat oven to 425.

Spray a baking dish with oil.

Combine all ingredients, cover with foil, and roast for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes soft.

Layer potatoes, beans, and rice in warmed tortillas. Fry if desired.

Oh my Mexican yumminess - so, so good. Thankfully, I have 2 cups of Chile Colorado frozen now, so we'll be able to enjoy this over winter as well. Wahoo.

'Til next time!

Marinated Portobello Mushroom and Veggie Fajitas with Chile-Lime Sauce

I've been on a slight marinating kick lately - especially marinating mushrooms and veggies for Mexican-ish food. This time I decided to highlight the portobello mushroom in a marinated fajita as, well, they are one of both Brett and my favorite mushrooms.

This is another spicy dish, for less fire, omit some of the hot peppers from the 'veggie mix' in the fajitas.

Since Brett and I aren't eating avocados for a month, I've decided to try to be creative with salsas to go with our meal so guacamole and avocado won't be necessary. I decided to go with a Chile-Lime sauce this time and it paired with the marinated mushrooms and veggies well. The sauce is also pretty spicy, remove the seeds from the peppers before blending if you want a milder sauce. Brett made some tofu sour cream and it turned out excellent this time, I love the way the tofu sour cream compliments really spicy food.















Chile-Lime Sauce
2 serrano chilies, minced
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup veggie broth
juice of one lime
cumin
pinch sugar
pinch white pepper
pinch salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onions and cook for about 10 minutes, add the garlic and cook another 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess water and transfer to a food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Return to the stove in a small sauce pan. Simmer on low for about a half hour until thick.

Mushrooms and veggies marinating.

Just Another Fajita Marinade
1/8 cup vegetable oil (you could get away with less, but this marinade does need some oil)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
juice of one lime
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 chipotle chilies in adobo, roughly chopped
4 dried New Mexican Chile peppers, roughly broken up
1 tsp. sugar
Mexican oregano
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt
dash white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and marinate veggies for at least an hour. Remove dried chilies and chipotle chilies (if desired) before cooking veggies.

Marinated Portobella Mushroom and Veggie Fajitas
Marinate the following veggies:
2-3 cups portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced

The Other Stuff:
small tortillas
Chili Lime Sauce
tofu sour cream

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the veggies and cook for 15-20 minutes, adding more marinde if neccesary, or until soft.

Divide filling in two bowls. Serve with warmed small tortillas, Chile-Lime sauce, and tofu sour cream.

I love fajitas, and marinating veggies is an incredibly easy way to take a meal to a different level.

'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.

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.