Lately I’ve been craving enchiladas, but without all the cheesey goodness. I’ve already given in to the temptations of Don’s Donuts several times in the last few weeks, so a classic plate of cheese ‘n’ red sauce isn’t exactly what my belly needs at the moment.

Flipping through my cookbooks I remembered some recent trip home where Sue had made the very ambitious Whole Enchilada Casserole from VWFC. I remember it being very time consuming– so much that the authors recommend you make some of the ingredients the day before!

Well, I wanted none of that, not to mention how expensive it is if you follow the recipe to a ‘T.’ So, naturally, I did some modifying and came up with my own version! I will go ahead and say that, despite cutting down on a lot of the work, it’s still a very time consuming recipe to make. Totally worth it, though!

Ingredients
12 large Corn Tortillas
1 can Minced olives
1 can Enchilada sauce
Oil, for frying

Ingredients (Filling)
1 medium White onion, chopped
1 Green bell pepper, chopped
1 Jalapeno, seeded and minced
10 oz. Extra firm tofu, crumbled
1 1/2 cups Refrigerated salsa
1 can Black beans, drained
1 can Refried beans
3 Tbl Tahini
2 1/2 Tbl Soy sauce
1 Tbl Nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tsp. Chili powder
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
Cilantro, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste

Ingredients (Nut Cheez)
2 cups Cashews
1 cup Water
1 Red bell pepper, chopped
2 Scallions, chopped
1 tsp Soy sauce
Cilantro, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste

Directions
- Prepare the nut cheez by combining the cashews and water in a food processor and blending until extremely smooth. Let sit in a warm place, covered, over night or for several hours. I let it sit in the oven at 170 degrees while I prepared the rest of the meal. Then, place it in a small mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

- For the filling: place a small amount of oil, onion, green bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic powder in a medium skillet and saute for 5-8 minutes. Add crumbled tofu and saute for another 10 or so minutes, until the tofu begins to brown a bit.

- In a medium sized pot, heat refried beans over medium-low heat. Slowly add the rest of the filling ingredients, stirring as you go along. Finally, add the tofu mixture. Remove from heat and set aside.

- In a lightly oiled 9×13″ casserole dish, layer 4 corn tortillas so that they cover as much of the surface as possible. Generously spread enchilada sauce over them with a ladle or other large spoon. Spread half the nut cheez over the the top, and then half the filling. Repeat these steps by laying down another 4 corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, the rest of the nut cheez and then the rest of the filling. Lay down the last 4 corn tortillas and yet another serving of enchilada sauce.

- Lastly, top the dish with minced olives and cover with aluminum foil. In a preheated oven set to 350 F, cook for 15 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and cook for another 20. Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes before serving and you’re (finally) done!

I really enjoy eating mine with a slice of lime and some soy yogurt mixed with lime juice, but that’s just me being crazy for lime!

In case you’re wondering, the exclamation point in the title was extremely necessary. This was the first time I made bean burgers and, despite a huge bump in the road, they turned out wonderful with the help of a little improvisation.

The recipe I was using, which I transcribed by hand from a cookbook at Meg’s house in Brooklyn!, called for four shallots. I piled all the ingredients into my food processor, with shallots on top, and started pulsing the mixture… But the shallots just stayed put. Eventually I took half the mixture out, processed it, and then the other half… But the shallots didn’t chop. Eventually I became ravenously hungry and depressed that my bean burgers looked more like a bean dip, so I picked out all the large pieces of shallot and left it at that.

To resolve the goopy over-processed problem I doubled the bread crumbs. The consistency of these patties is great, even though nothing like the recipe had intended. I overcooked each side to get a nice, flaky, charred-bean skin around it.

So! Here’s the recipe as I made it. I’m sure the original recipe is fantastic, but I’ll never know! I like this one too much, now.

Ingredients
1 can Kidney beans, drained
1 can Black beans, drained
1 can Cannellini beans, drained
8 oz. Breadcrumbs
1 heaping tsp Chili powder
2 stalks Celery, halved and chopped
1-2 Shallots, minced finely
Cilantro, to taste, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
- In a food processor, combine all ingredients except for half the breadcrumbs. Blend until creamy. Place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until chilled.

- Add the rest of the bread crumbs and mix by hand. If you wish, you can reserve some of the beans from being creamed, and add them in now, too. Form into 4-8 patties, flatten between the palms of your hand, and store in the refrigerator inside an airtight container until ready for use.

- To cook: heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Pat flour onto each side of the burgers and fry for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until it becomes dark and crispy.

- Serve on a toasted bun with all your favorite fix’ns! These burgers are vegan, but I couldn’t resist a sprinkling of feta on mine! :x I also enjoy eggless canola mayonnaise, mustard, avocado, cilantro, black pepper and an unnatural amount of fresh lime juice.

Blueberry Bonanza Bars have been at the top of my to-bake list ever since I bought the Cookie cookbook. When I worked as a barista I made a much more crude version of them for the dessert shelves and, despite the crust coming from a box, they were absolutely delicious. I don’t really care for blueberries, though, so while at the grocery store I decided to buy some raspberry jam– my absolute fave.

But, while standing in the middle of the aisle, debating what brand to buy, I remembered that I have a monster sized jar of mango preserves in my refrigerator. Like, 48 oz. huge. I couldn’t justify buying yet more jam when I’ve barely put a dent in what I already had, so with my head hung low I dragged my feet to the registers.

I’m such a stubborn brat that I almost made something entirely different when I got home, simply because I couldn’t have exactly what I wanted. It’s a good thing I saw things through, though, because these bars turned out wonderful! They have a subtle but sweet flavor, and they were very easy to make despite the baking time.

The recipe for the bars is right here, which I followed pretty closely. The only substitutions I used were 2 servings of Ener-G Egg Replacer, 1 1/2 sticks of Earth Balance, and 1 1/2+ cups of mango preserves.

Here is the recipe for Almond-Coconut Granola, with vegan substitutions:

Ingredients
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) Earth Balance
1/4 cup Agave nectar
1/2 cup packed Brown sugar
2 Tbsp Water
3 cups Rolled oats
2/3+ cups Sliced almonds
1/2+ cup Shredded coconut, sweetened

Directions
- In a small sauce pan, melt butter and agave nectar over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Add brown sugar and keep stirring until it dissolves. Add water, stir and remove from heat. In a medium sized bowl, combine the oats, almonds and coconut. Pour sugar sauce over the mixture and stir until evenly coated.

- This granola is pretty scrumptious to keep hanging around by itself, so if you want to make it without the granola bars, simply bake it at 375 F on a rimmed baking sheet for about 25-30 minutes, or until the oats begin to turn golden. Store in an airtight container and nibble as needed :)

Coming home from a weekend of guiltless face stuffing it was kind of hard for me to even think about food, let alone the thought of preparing it myself. It’s incredible how much crap I managed to put in my body during those few days– we are definitely due up for a vegan-detox. Uhm… Nevermind the donut holes and apple strudel we had for dessert last night! :x

I decided to crack open ol’ faithful (which is apparently available on Google Books!) and try something I hadn’t done before… Preferrably something easy. The original recipe for Booker T’s Southwest Tempeh Chili doesn’t look incredibly difficult, but I veered so far away from the recipe that I can’t really comment on it. I mostly used its flavors and spices as my base because– awful vegetarian confession here– I’m not too hot for tempeh. When it’s good it is so good, but when it isn’t good it’s just money down the hole. So I decided to replace and add ingredients fit to our tastes. The results were fabulous and it was as easy as opening cans and dumping them into the soup pot!

Ingredients
4 cups Vegetable broth
1 cup Yellow onion, chopped
1-2 stalks Celery, halved and chopped
1 Jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 can Stewed tomatoes, diced
1-2 cans Refried beans
1 can Black beans, drained
1 can Corn, drained
2 Tbsp Tomato paste
3 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Lime juice
1 Tbsp Chili powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped

2 medium Russet potatoes
6 oz. Plain soy yogurt
Lime juice

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Rinse Russet potatoes, stab with a knife and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in the center rack of the oven and bake until fluffy.

- While potatoes are baking, bring vegetable stock to a slow boil in a large pot. Add onion, celery, jalapeno and sweet potatoes. Cook for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

- Add stewed tomatoes and tomato paste and let cook for 5 minutes. Depending on how thick or thin you prefer your chili, add 1 or 2 cans of refried beans. I only added one in anticipation of the chili losing water in the refrigerator overnight. Stir occasionally, making sure the refried beans fully dissolve in the broth.

- Next, add soy sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and cilantro. You may use fresh garlic if you’d like. I didn’t have any on hand, so I used a can of stewed tomatoes that had garlic in it. Quick fix! After stirring those ingredients into the pot, you may now add the black beans and corn.

- Let sit on the stove top without a lid over medium heat until baked potatoes are finished cooking. Meanwhile, in a small bowl prepare sour creme by combining soy yogurt with lime juice and cilantro to taste.

- Once everything’s finished cooking, serve chili on top of baked potatoes, with a dollop of sour creme. I confess to adding a few pads of butter and some salt to my potato fluff prior to dousing it with chili, then stirring it all together into one gnarly looking (but delicious tasting!) mess.

Enjoy! :)

The past couple of weeks my friends have been hounding me for the pad thai recipe I’ve been raving all about. And me? Well, I’ve been uber lazy and am only just now sitting down to blog about it! I promise, though, it’ll be worth the wait. :)

This recipe is an adaptation from the one found in Vegan World Fusion Cuisine– there are some slight modifications due to personal taste, or not having ingredients available. Ample amounts of peanut butter and lime juice, plus all your daily servings of veggies are used to make a very unique kind of pad thai.

Ingredients
1/3 cup Shoyu
1/3 cup Lime juice (when in a crunch, lemon juice will work okay)
1/4 cup Unrefined sugar
3 tablespoons Peanut butter
1 tablespoon Tahini
1/2 teaspoon Green curry paste
1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Coriander

8 oz. Rice noodles
1 cup Extra firm tofu, cubed
A medley of vegetables for stir frying. I usually use the following:
1/2 a White onion, sliced
1/2 a head of Broccoli, chopped
1-2 Carrots, halved into small sticks
1-2 Scallions, chopped
1 small can Sliced water chestnuts
Celery, halved and chopped
Handful of cashews, coarsely chopped (optional)
Sesame oil (for frying)

Directions
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the first nine ingredients and mix. I usually let my bowl sit next to the stove top as I cook so the peanut butter and tahini have a chance to warm up and make mixing easier. I also make this sauce in large batches and store in my fridge in an airtight container– that way, when I want to make pad thai again in the next couple of weeks I simply have to prepare the noodles and veggies. Then, voila!

- In a wok, saute onions in sesame oil while preparing the rest of the food to be fried. Add tofu and cook until all edges are golden brown. Add broccoli and carrots and cook for about 15 minutes. Add celery, scallions and water chestnuts. Put the lid on the wok if necessary to speed up the process, making sure not to let the broccoli and carrots get too soft.

- Meanwhile, prepare rice noodles according to packaged instructions. Usually this involves boiling water, removing it from the heat and soaking the noodles for 3-5 minutes before pouring into a colander and rinsing with cool water. During a visit a few months ago, my best friend gifted me a Sheartoku, which I now use to cut the noodles into more managable lengths. If using, now would be the time to add the cashews.

- After making sure the veggies are cooked to your liking, add noodles and mix. Slowly stir in the peanut-lime sauce to taste, making sure not to add too much. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let the pad thai sit for a few minutes to ensure noodles and sauce become warm– then serve and enjoy!