Delicious Tortilla Stew

This stew was a modified version of several online recipes... and it is delicious. And SPICY.

veggie oil

1 onion, minced

1 package Quorn Chik'N Tenders (defrosted)

3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

liberal amount of taco seasoning

1 can green (medium heat) enchilada sauce

1 1/2 cups veggie stock

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, preferably fire roasted

4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into strips

In a pot, sauté the onions and the garlic in the veggie oil. Once the onions are cooked well, add the Quorn. Sauté together for a few minutes (until the Quorn seems softer) and add the taco seasoning. I usually mix the taco seasoning into the sauté so everything is coated with little granules, and then add a little water and mix- just enough water to dissolve the seasoning and coat everything evenly.

Cook until you think the Quorn has absorbed enough of the taco seasoning flavor- maybe 10 minutes. You can even brown it a little if you want.

In a separate bowl, mix the enchilada sauce and stock. Add the chile powder, cumin, salt and/or pepper. Add this mixture to the pot with the onions and Quorn, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Mix in the beans and tomatoes. Cook the tortillas on a griddle until cooked enough for tacos, and then slice into strips and add to stew. Simmer until heated through. 

Garnish with goat cheese or fake sour cream and enjoy!!

Delicious Dal

Dahl and Pie
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

This is a great, simple recipe from a Nepali cookbook that I checked out of the library years ago.

4 cups water
1 cup lentils, red or brown or yellow, though I usually use red
1 T margarine
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 onion, chopped
pinch cloves
1/2 tsp cumin
pinch cinnamon
2 cardamom pods
1 T margarine

Warm water in a stock pot and add lentils, 1 T of margarine, salt & turmeric. Cover and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes to one hour. In a small pan, fry up the onions in the other 1 T of margarine until brown. Add the cloves, cumin, cinnamon, & cardamom pods and sauté for a few more minutes. Add this mixture to the soup and simmer for another 15 minutes. Enjoy!!

The picture also shows samosa pie, but I wasn't happy with the crust, so I'll have to fiddle with the recipe before I post it.

Trilbys

Trilbys
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes- my grandmother and I used to make these for Christmas. Additionally, the recipe started out dairy free!

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups oatmeal
1 2/3 cups flour

Mix all the ingredients together, and roll fairly thin on a floured surface. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. When cool, put together as sandwich cookies with the date filling.

Date filing:
1 cup dates
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water

Boil until thick!

The date filling helps keep the cookies moist and delicious.

Pie, Delicious Pie

Pie!
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

OK, so I got a little behind, because this is still the Thanksgiving wrap up and it's almost Xmas. Oh well.

Pie!!

This pie is the Sweet Potato Pie with Three Nut Topping from Vegan with a Vengeance, made with a Pecan Nut Crust (I was trying to accommodate my MIL's diet issues- diabetic & kidney issues) with mine.)
The major mod was that I used brown rice syrup in the 3 nut topping- and absolutely hunt down the correct nuts for this- the hazelnuts made all the difference.

The crust was fantastic- but I had to double the recipe to get enough to cover the pan. So, here is my modified crust (this is doubled):

* 2 cup pecan pieces (frozen)
* 4 T melted Earth Balance
* 4 T Brown Rice Syrup

Preparation:
1. Take pecans out of the freezer and measure them into a food processor. Pulse the processor until the largest pieces are as big as lentils or split peas.

2. Add the margarine and the syrup. Blend until it's mixed evenly.

3. Dump it into a pie pan, and push with your fingers to cover the bottom and sides. It should be the right consistency to mold the crust to the pie pan evenly.

It was fantastic with this pie.

Tofurkey Wellington

Tofurkey Wellington Beginnings
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

I realize that Thanksgiving was last week already, but we had company in town and it was hard to get time to talk about what I made...
So, today is the Tofurkey post, tomorrow will be pie :)

I made this recipe last year, but forgot to write down my modifications, and because of that, had a little trouble. It's one of the recipes on the Tofurkey website, and it really quite tasty.

Tofurky Wellington
Recipe by Susan Proper

Ingredients:

One Tofurky Roast, thawed (the small one)
One Tofurky Giblet & Mushroom Gravy, thawed (I couldn't find this separately from the Tofurkey this year, so I used a different brand of mushroom gravy)
1 pound fresh mushrooms, diced (I prefer crimini, or brown mushrooms)
1/4 cup olive oil or peanut oil, for frying
2 tablespoons finely diced onions
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I used powdered ginger cause that's what I had)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pepper and salt to taste
1 package frozen phyllo dough (or puff pastry)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
1/2 cup Hummus (plain or flavored) (I used garlic hummus)
also-- melted Earth Balance Margarine and a brush

Heat the oil in a skillet, then fry the onions and mushrooms until the onions are caramelized (brown) and most of the liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms. Place the Hummus, fresh garlic and spices in a small bowl. Mix in the cooled onions and mushrooms.

Now you’re ready to assemble. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place several sheets (you need at least 6-7, not several, or your dough will break when you try to wrap it up) of phyllo dough on a cutting board or clean counter top. (You may want to spread the surface with Saran Wrap – it can make the pastry step easier).

OK- I didn't find the saran wrap thing that helpful. I tried it, and things slipped too much, so I just put in on my cutting board. I also brushed the melted margarine in between the sheets of phyllo dough, like you would for spinach pie.

Spread the Hummus mixture on the center of the dough. Place the Tofurky on top of that, and spoon 3 tablespoons of Giblet & Mushroom Gravy over the Tofurky. Bring up the ends of the dough over the top of the Tofurky, enclosing the Tofurky in pastry. Seal the pastry.

I also brushed the margarine between each sheet of dough to stick it together while I wrapped it, and when I got it into the pan (which was not easy) I then put strips of dough with margarine around it to make it look nicer.

You should now have a Tofurky “loaf” encased in pastry. Carefully turn the whole thing over, so that the pastry seams face down, into a shallow pan or onto a foil-covered cookie sheet. Cut a few decorative ventilation holes in the top.

Optional: brush 1 tablespoon margarine or peanut oil on top of the Tofurky Wellington, cut in ventilation holes with a cookie cutter (leaf or diamond shape is traditional) or a sharp knife.

Bake for about an hour and a half, or until the pastry is a golden brown. Meanwhile, warm up the rest of the Giblet & Mushroom Gravy. Serve by cutting each guest a slice and pouring Giblet & Mushroom Gravy over the slice.

So tasty.

One of my Favorite Soups

Squash Apple Sweet Potato Soup
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

This is one of those recipes that I've made a million times. I've made it for family dinners, work pot lucks... in fact, I've tried to bring other things to work pot lucks, but my several of my coworkers insist on this soup.

It's from one of my favorite cookbooks- How it All Vegan - which has a lot of great recipes.

The other good part about this is that it's one of those recipes that's so easy- cut everything up and throw in a pot and cook.

I always end up making a double batch, because the recipe calls for 2 cups butternut squash, and whatever butternut squash I buy, I always have double. It freezes well, though.

Squash Apple Sweet Potato Soup
1 medium onion, chopped (I actually use half an onion)
1 tsp oil (for frying the onion)
2 cups veggie stock
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2-3 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (if you put in the called for 1/4 tsp cayenne, this soup is going to be incredibly hot. I put in maybe an 1/8 tsp for a double batch)

In a large soup pot, sauté the onions in oil until translucent. Add the stock, squash, apples, sweet potatoes, and all seasonings. Mix and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until all the pieces are soft. Take 3-4 ladles of soup out and puree in the blender, then return creamed soup to pot and mix and cook for a few more minutes.

Enjoy!!

Modified Moosewood

Last garden bounty
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

If you've ever been a vegetarian, chances are you had a copy of the original Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Yellow pages, handwritten type, weird indexing, interesting recipes with not a lot of flavor... Yes, I know, it's a classic, I'm not supposed to criticize it. I own a copy and cook from it semi-regularly. In fact, we used to have two copies. (We kept the hardcover.)

1970s vegetarian cooking was seriously lacking in spices. I'm not sure if spices weren't really readily available like they are now, or people's palates weren't up to them, or if vegetarians were just trying to go for ingredient "purity," but I own several 1970s vegetarian cookbooks, and the Moosewood is not unique in this.

That said, if you punch up the recipes, they're pretty awesome. The Mexican Pepper Casserole is one of my favorites, but the original needs a little modification. The first time I made it, I wasn't sure what exactly was Mexican about it, it was so bland.

Tonight's Pepper Casserole was inspired by the last batch of vegetables from the garden- there have been two frosts in the past two weeks, and I don't think I can let them ripen any longer. We picked a TON of peppers- mostly green & red bell peppers, but also a lot of Zavory peppers, which have the flavor of habenero, but are not as hot.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sliced garden peppers
Originally uploaded by zombie amelia

6 sliced peppers- I like using a variety of colors- today's was made with the last of my garden peppers, so colors were limited
1 small hot pepper, chopped (more if you're into more heat)
1.5 cups chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
2 T oil or margarine (original calls for butter or oil)
1 t each salt, cumin, coriander
1/2 t dry mustard (honestly, I skip this)
1/4 t each black and red pepper (add way more, to taste)
modification- 1 t chili powder
You can also add crushed red chili pepper in the spice sauté.
2 T flour
4 eggs
1.5 cups mixture (dairy free) sour cream and (dairy free) yogurt- I usually use 1 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup Tofutti sour cream- I use more yogurt than sour cream because fake sour cream has a TON of calories.
1/2 lb cheese- sharp or mild goat cheddar - grated, not sliced like the recipe calls for

Mix eggs with yogurt/sour cream until smooth.

Slice peppers in rings. Heat oil and saute onions with spices & garlic until onions are translucent. Add chopped hot peppers and saute for a minute or two.

Add peppers. Saute over low heat for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and mix well. Saute until the liquid from the peppers is gone.

Oil the casserole, spread in half the pepper saute, add a little less than half the cheese, then add the rest of the saute and almost all the cheese. Pour the egg/sour cream/yogurt mixture over the top, and sprinkle the last of the grated cheese on top. Garnish with paprika.

Bake covered at 375F for 30 minutes, then 15 more minutes uncovered. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Serve with chips & salsa.

Enjoy!!