Black Bean Tamale Bake

Ingredients:

Filling:
2 cups dry black beans, that comes to something like 4 cups prepared
1 vidiala onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 yellow bell pepper, diced (or bell pepper color of your choice)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup salsa

Topping:
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 tbsp EVOO
1/2-1 cup unsweetened soymilk

Method:

If starting with dried beans, soak over night, cook the next day. I use the slow cooker method (soak dried beans over night, cook 3-6 hours in slow cooker on high). Drain, set aside. I started this monday – soaking, tuesday, cooking the beans, wednesday I made this dish.

Spray a pan with nonstick spray, saute onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes, add bell peppers. Saute until onions are soft. Remove from heat, stir in beans and salsa.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the topping in a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients, then stir in the corn kernels. Start adding the soymilk, start with half the amount and then add more until you get a thick batter (kind of like waffle batter). Pour the filling into a 9×13 casserole dish

 

spread the topping over the filling

bake for 45 minutes, until the topping i firm and lightly browned.

Cool slightly and then serve, cuts into about 8 servings, 4 if you’re really hungry.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

This quick meal I made for me and The Dad. He had two massive sweet potatoes in the kitchen so I quickly decided we should use one and make burritos:

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled, baked, diced – what I did was peeled, diced, then “baked” in the microwave for 5 minutes, until tender

1 tbsp EVOO

1/2 large sweet onion (we got a vidalia onion…so yummy!)

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic (or if you have garlic cloves 1-2 crushed cloves)

1 cup salsa

Method:

Saute onion in EVOO until soft (about 5-10 minutes).

Stir in the spices to coat onions and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in diced sweet potatoes and black beans to heat

Then stir in the salsa until the mixture is heated through.

Serve in tortilla of choice:

Other serving suggestions: top with vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, lettuce, roasted veggies, and so on. This recipe makes about 4 burritos – we used 6inch burrito shells.

Enchilada Bake

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pablano pepper, finely diced

2 tsp cumin

3 cups cooked (or 2-15oz cans) pinto beans

1 cup Salsa

1 can enchilada sauce

8 corn tortilla shells

Method:

Spray pan with cooking spray and sautee onions, garlic, and the pablano pepper until onions are soft.  Stir in cumin and saute for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drain and rise beans if you’re using canned. Stir together beans, salsa and the onion mixture until combined.

In a 8×8 square baking dish spread 3 tbsp of the enchilada sauce layer 4 tortillas to cover the bottom. Top the tortillas with the bean mixture, cover with the remaining 4 tortillas. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top and be sure to cover all the tortillas. Cover the dish with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes. Let the dish cool for about 10 minutes before eat. Enjoy!

“Fast Food” Stir Fry

Brown rice

Tempeh

Mixed frozen veg & sauce of choice! Ah, yum.

Enchilada Casserole

I felt like making enchiladas and ended up with an awesome enchilada casserole instead because I got a little over excited about my veggies…can you blame a girl?

1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup diced onions
1 cup diced bell pepper
3 garlic cloves
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 cup diced mushrooms
15 oz diced tomatoes (one can fire roasted diced tomatoes)
30 oz black beans (2 cans black beans)
12 corn tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce

Saute onions, peppers, garlic in EVOO until onions are soft.
Add mushrooms, cook 1 minute
add tomatoes and simmerTo assemble…
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
pour a bit of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan
layer in corn tortillas (I used blue corn, because they look good)
layer in veggie mix

Then put in a layer of beans

follow with a layer of sauce

tortillas

repeat above steps one more time and follow the last layer of tortillas with more sauce!

Bake for about 30 minutes until top looks yummy….

Lentil Tomato Curry

2 cup brown lentils
2 cup water
14 1/2 oz stewed tomatoes
14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 1/2 cup diced onions
1 tbsp olive oilSimmer Lentils, Water, and both cans of tomatoes.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small pan, add diced onions and garlic. Saute until onions are soft. Add the spices to the onions and saute for one minute. Stir into lentil and tomato mixture and simmer until lentils are soft.

Serve over potatoes or rice. Enjoy!

Chili!

For New Years Day I made a crock pot full of chili for the post New Years Day ride warmth and fuel (While my roommate made a pot of meat-eater chili). We pedaled across down in the negative windchill air to laugh at the bike polar plunge event…I could NEVER do that…

Here’s what went into the chili…but you know, chili isn’t and exact recipe, it’s what you like and what you have around:

dried beans that have been soaked overnight: 1 cup black-eyed peas, 1/2 cup red kidney beans, 1/2 cup pinto beans.

2 tbsp EVOO

1 large red onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, pressed

Saute above in EVOO until soft, then add:

2 Poblano peppers, seeded, finely diced

2 Anaheim peppers, seeded, finely diced

1 Jalepeno pepper, seeded, finely diced

Saute for 2-3minutes, then add:

28oz diced tomatoes

15oz diced tomatoes with chili peppers

All the soaked beans.

Spices to taste (I used salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin)

Then remove the pan from the stove and dump into a 5qt crock pot. Simmer on low for several hours until beans are soft.

I served mine with french bread and Teese Cheddar Cheese. There was none left at the end of the day and everyone said it was awesome chili!

Curry and Chickpea Pancakes

I’d have to say one of my favorite types of cuisine is India. I love the combination of spices, the bold flavors, and the fact that a large amount of recipes can be (or already are) vegan. A while ago I made some Lentil Tomato Curry (of which I ate a bunch but also froze some for later). So I removed the curry from the freezer and thought it would go well with Chickpea Pancakes…I was right. Awesome.

Recipe for pancakes:

2 cups chickpea flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 1/4 tsp cumin

1 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I used peas & carrots)

Sift together dry ingredients. Stir in liquid, if it still seems too dry and more water until you end up with a batter slightly thicker than pancake batter. Once the batter is ready stir in the vegetables. Heat a skillet and scoop batter with 1/4 cup and spread out on the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, flip and cook another 3-5 minutes until both sides are browned.

Repeat until batter is all used up. You’ll make about 10 pancakes.

Chili – in 3 days

When I make chili it’s a three day process.

Day 1:

Soak 4 cups of dry beans for at least 12 hours. This time I used Northern, Black-eyed Peas, Pinto, and Red Kidney Beans. Use what you have or what you like best.

The rest of the things you’ll need for my chili are:
4 – 14.5 oz cans of tomatoes (I used a variety of types just because it’s what I had on hand)
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced red onion
3 jalapeno peppers, diced (I keep the seeds and everything, mostly becasue I like spicy chili)
1 anaheim pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp EVOO
various spices to taste – I used basil, thyme, cumin, paprika, some chipotle sauce. No measuring needed, just use what you like.

Day 2:

Saute red onions in EVOO until soft and translucent, add pressed garlic, saute 1 minute. Add carrots and various peppers, saute 5 minutes (maybe add some water if it’s getting too dry in the pan).

Drain the beans you soaked overnight.

Add all 4 cans of tomatoes, sauce and all. Add spices you’d like to use and simmer 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in beans. Package this puppy up in an airtight container (it makes about 16 cups, so a big bowl you can cover or a food saver container). Put in fridge to rest overnight. The resting is good because all your flavors develop and it just turns out more amazing, I think.

Day 3:

Remove what you assembled on Day 2,  Bust out a huge pan (or crock pot, I swear I had a crock pot but apparently I don’t, so I made mine on the stove). If using a crock pot dump the contents in in the morning and simmer on low for several hours, until you get home. If you’re cooking on the stove, simmer for 1 hour until bubbly. Adjust seasoning as you see fit.

I serve up my chili many different ways…over pasta, spaghetti squash, cornbread, veggies, potatoes, on toast…really, the sky is the limit. Maybe some cornbread waffles…hmmm…

Stuffed Acorn Squash

For my birthday dinner I made some stuffed squash for Chris and I. It was my first time working with wild rice actually and doing any sort of stuff squash. It turned out really well, so well in fact that Chris snagged the extra one for his lunch the next day.

Recipe:

3 acorn squash, tops removed, seeded. Bake upside down at 350 for about 45-60 minutes until the insides are tender (varies depending on the side of your squash)

Meanwhile:

Simmer 2/3 cup wild rice in 1 1/3 cup water until absorbed (about 50 minutes)

Simmer 2/3 cup quinoa in 1 1/3 cup water until absorbed

After rice and quinoa are done, mixed them together. In a pan heat some EVOO and sautee 1/2 cup diced red onion with 2 garlic cloves (pressed), stir in rice/quinoa mixture. Add a few TBSP water and stir in 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Season however you prefer (savory, sweet, spicy), I used Cumin, Ginger, and Salt. Then when I stuffed the filling into the squash I drizzled with some maple agave syrup. Awesome. The sweetness of the maple agave syrup really played well with the cumin.