Jim's Naanich

Next up we have a quick and easy sandwich recipe from Jim. He adapted this recipe from a vegetarian sandwich found in the book "By Any Greens Necessary". He sent the recipe from the book also; I'll post that later. I am posting this one first because it seems easier to make, and more likely that folks would have most -if not all- of the ingredients on hand.

Here goes:

You will need:
1/2 piece of naan bread
Avacado (as much as you like - mash it up, or slice it)
Roma tomato - again, as much as you like
Kale - a few small pieces
Bragg's amino acids (tastes like soy sauce)
Bragg's nutritional yeast
Cucumbers and garlic - optional
Tempeh (called for in the original recipe from "By Any Greens Necessary". Optional)

I cut a piece of naan bread in half. Then cut one half into quarters. Then warm the naan bread. I get the Indian naan bread from Sprouts. Spread avacado on the naan quarters. Add thin slices of roma tomato. Add small pieces of kale. A few sprinkles of Bragg's amino acids and Bragg's nutritional yeast. I found both of these at the vitamin shoppe. The naan bread warmed up with avacado is sooo good. Sometimes I add thin sliced cucumbers and finely chopped garlic. You could add thin slices of basically anything you like. I'm thinking about adding thin sliced or shaved carrots on a future naanich. I am definitely going to be adding the tempeh since I love bacon but am trying to cut way down on animal fat replacing them with raw vegetable fats. I saw some tempeh in the refrigerated section at Sprouts today.
I love this naanich as a snack or a quick lunch since it goes together quickly, is yummy and nutritious.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole ala Brandon!

Our friend Brandon sent us this wonderful recipe for King Ranch Chicken Casserole. Get your elastic pants on!!

2 8oz pkgs of Mexican-style marinated baked tofu cubes (see link in comments about how to prep your tofu for this recipe. Prep your tofu.....you know you want to).
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 clove of chopped garlic
1/2 tsp of chili powder divided
1/4 tsp of ground cumin
1 cup of vegetable stock
2 1/2 tbs of flour
1/4 cup of tofu sour cream (or reduced fat sour cream for non vegans)
salt and pepper to taste
8 corn tortillas ( i usually use the whole package of 12 but whatever floats your boat)
14.5 oz can of diced rotel tomatoes with green chilis drained
1 1/2-2 cups of soy cheese, tofu cheese, or almond cheese ( again whatever floats your boat but i use soy cheese)
paprika

pre heat oven to 350. lightly oil a 2 qt casserole dish. in a large bowl combine onion, green pepper, tofu, garlic and half of the chili powder and set aside.
put stock in a small sauce pan and combine flour and cook over medium heat. whisk until sauce thickens. remove from heat and whisk in sour cream, the rest of the chili powder and salt and pepper to taste.
in a casserole dish layer half the tortillas ( i like to cut them in to inch thick strips) half the tofu mixture, half the can of rotel, half the sour cream mixture, and half the cheese. then layer again with the rest of the tortillas and so on making a second layer ending with the cheese on top. sprinkle with a little paprika and garlic powder. place inthe over and bake until cheese is bubbly and a little brown around the edges (about 30-35 mins) remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 mins.

Playin' with Pepperoni

So, I was at the store the other day and saw a vegetarian version of pepperoni. Now, the fact that pepperoni is meat is not the only reason I won't eat it anymore. Every brand I have seen is chuck full of preservatives and other assorted poisons. So I checked out the ingredients of this soy based pepperoni and decided to give it a try. I also spotted another new product, Fleischman's yeast made especially for pizza crust. I make homeade pizza about every two weeks or so, so I decided to try that too.

The yeast was very easy to use, and quite miraculously you don't have to let the dough rise. (How did they do that?) One package makes exactly the right amount for one large pizza when following the instructions on the package. It was a very fast mix, a quick knead to get it the right smooth and slightly spongy texture, and then it said to roll it out. I did, and the next instruction was to put your sauce and toppings and slide into the oven. I did this and it came out looking great.

So, was it as good as it looked? No. The crust did not rise at all, although if you like a very thin crust it might be passable. The pepperoni not too surprisingly I guess, did not taste like pepperoni. I ended up feeding the pepperoni off my pizza to the dogs who thought it was great. I will stick with vegetable toppings next time and my own crust recipe which I will post in a few days. I do make a delicious pizza, but it wasn't this one.

"Beef" Enchiladas

Here's a recipe utilizing Meatless Veggie Crumbles. These turned out rather well; my husband went back for seconds. I used Toffuti cream cheese instead of any of the vegan shredded varieties, because I hoped it would melt better. It didn't. But these were still very tasty.

You'll need:
1/2 of a small white onion - chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped (I charred mine in a grill pan first, but that isn't a necessary step)
1 clove garlic - minced
1 tspn oregano (optional)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 12 oz package of Boca Meatless Veggie Crumbles (or whatever brand is available)
1 package of Taco Seasoning mix
1/2 cup water
1 small (4.5 oz) can of chopped green chilis
1 large can of red enchilada sauce (1 lb 3oz)
Toffuti cream cheese
Corn tortillas (12 to 16)

Put olive oil in a fry pan; add the onion and bell. Sprinkle salt and pepper on it. When the onion starts to brown around the edges, add the garlic. Stir around a few times, now add the veggie crumbles, the taco seasoning mix, the oregano (if you are using it), 1/2 cup of water and the green chilis. Stir around a bit and take the pan off of the heat.

Here's what my finished filling looked like:

In a 13 x 9 pan, spread a little of the enchilada sauce (so your enchiladas don't stick). I used the sauce right out of the can - I didn't heat it up.
Make your tortillas pliable by heating them up in the microwave - smear some olive oil on both sides of a tortilla, stack up 4 or 5 on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds.
On a small salad plate, put a spoonful of the sauce, place the warmed tortilla on it, add more sauce (about a spoonful) to the tortilla, then put your cream cheese on it. I made a row of the cheese about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide down the middle of the tortilla. Add your "meat" mixture down the middle, and roll it up. Place enchilada seam side down in the pan.
Continue until you've used up all the meat mixture, or if you only want one pan of enchiladas, you could save the remaining mixture to top off nachos later in the week.
Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and then cover the pan VERY TIGHTLY with foil. Pinch the foil all around so no steam escapes.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Autumn Apple Cake

Well first of all, let me just say I make no apologies for my love of cake. It's my favorite dessert, I can pass up pie or cookies or other sugary things all day long. But set a piece of cake down in front of me and I am all over it, unless it's covered in some gluey substance made of shortening and sugar. I dislike most kinds of frostings, and if I use one I will usually melt it down to a glaze or sauce and use much less of it. So I'm always on the lookout for cakes that don't require a typical frosting.

It's autumn and I had a surplus of apples, so I went hunting for an apple cake recipe. This one caught my eye because I'm also a huge fan of cinnamon, and because it uses only 1/2 cup of oil. I won't make a cake that uses more than that. Honestly, this cake is so moist you might be able to get away with 1/3 cup.

I would like to credit the original poster of the recipe but unfortunately I can't. It was just a random recipe I found which was not credited to anyone or even a certain recipe site. But it's fabulous and I wanted to share it.

Autumn Apple Cake

3/4 cup light brown sugar firmly packed

1/2 vegetable oil

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 medium apples cored and finely chopped

caramel topping

In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat together sugar, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Mix in the milk, flour, baking powder and salt, blending well. Stir in apples, reserving 1/4 cup of them for the topping. This makes a very thick batter which looks more like a quick bread. Spray a 8 inch square pan with cooking spray and spread in the batter. bake at 350 35-45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a knife into the center, if it comes out clean the cake is done. (Don't be afraid to bake longer if needed, this cake is so dense it may need more baking time).

Caramel topping

1/2 cup light brown sugar packed

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup finely chopped reserved apples

put all ingredients except vanilla into small sauce pan and heat until a low simmer is reached. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes on a very low simmer, stirring often. Remove from heat and add the vanilla stirring in quickly. Spoon the apples over the cake and drizzle with about half the sauce. (You could poke some holes with a fork into the cake if you wanted). For best results serve warm with a spoonful of the still warm sauce.

This cake is awesome with some cinnamon coffee. It was a big hit at my house, even with the chocolate fanatic I live with.

(How do you like my beat up old tin pan)

Creamy Spinach Enchiladas

First up, in my development of "Tofutti Mad Skillz" are Spinach Enchiladas. I think they turned out very yummy; the Tofutti acted just like sour cream throughout the mixing and cooking process. I have to say I was surprised. These are a bit of work, but well worth it if you are craving Tex-Mex. I would even serve these to company.

For the Spinach Stuffing: (sauce ingredient list below)

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

1/2 cup onion - finely chopped

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt

2 cups fresh mushrooms - small chop

16 oz of spinach (vat o'spinach, seriously)

2 garlic cloves - minced

2 Tbls. fresh cilantro - rather finely chopped

Here's what that cast of characters looks like:

Here are the steps:

1). In a large pot (perhaps a soup pot) heat up oil till shimmering

2). Add onions, salt and oregano

3).Cover and let sizzle for a few minutes.

4). Add mushrooms

Here's what it will look like:

5). Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

6). Add the spinach - I put in about 7 handfuls to start.

7). Cover and let wilt.

8). Add a few handfuls every 2 to 3 minutes and let it wilt down. Continue until you've added all the spinach (yes, yes....it will all fit. And you'll be amazed at how tiny all that spinach became).

Here's a final pic of the filling mixture: (well, not quite....I let it wilt a bit more after this)

9). Throw in the garlic and the cilantro. Give it a good stir, take pot off the heat and set aside.

Now for the sauce - you will need:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup flour

2 cups of Green Enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso Mild Green Chili sauce)

*if you can't find the Green Chili Sauce, just buy plain Green Enchilada sauce and a 4 ounce can of chopped green chilis. In a 2 cup measuring cup, pour the green chilis first, then make up the difference with your canned enchilada sauce).

1 12 ounce tub of Toffuti

Here's the steps:

1). Heat the olive oil till shimmering, add the flour and whip with a wisk until all the lumps are gone. I take it off the heat if it's bubbling too much.

2). Add the 2 cups of Enchilada Sauce and the Tofutti.

3). Whip It!! Whip It Good!!

Here's a pic:

Once it is a smooth consistency, take it off the heat and set aside.

Time to assemble your enchiladas! You will need 12 corn tortillas and a 13 x 9 pan.

Here's the steps:

1). You need to heat up the tortillas so they are pliable. You can microwave them, but I didn't have much luck with that. They cracked when rolled up. So I did mine the old fashioned way - dipped them in hot oil for a few minutes. Just heat the oil in a small pan, with tongs dip them in for about 10 seconds on each side, stack them up on a plate.

2) If you have any leftover enchilada sauce in the can, pour it into the bottom of your 13 x 9 pan so the enchiladas don't stick.

3). Lay your tortillas on your "work" plate, and put a heaping forkful of your spinach filling in it, roll it up and place in the pan.

I just can't stop with the pics:

4). Once you have them all assembled and in the pan (I got 13 total), then cover them with the cream sauce mixture.

5). Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Delicious, bubbling goodness:

The one thing I might do differently: halve the sauce recipe. But if you like it saucy, then use the full recipe....you could also scoop up any leftover sauce on your plate with tortilla chips.

If you want to reduce the oil, you could make an enchilada casserole, just layer the tortillas, filling, sauce......do this 2 times and end up with sauce on top.

Spackle

That was my first thought after peeling back the clear plastic overlay. But it's not spackle, it's vegan sour cream. Hmmm...........riiiiiight.

I stuck a spoon in it........kinda bland......really, not much taste at all.

My feeling is that Tofutti can be used as sour cream is many times - as the base of a creamy sauce.

The challenge at hand is to create some delicious dishes which incorporate Tofutti.

I'll let y'all know how that turns out.