Vegan "Cheesy" Enchiladas

Ok, so this is a fave. When I say fave, I mean Chris effing loves this. I am Mexican and finding some Mexican vegan dishes have been a must. This is awesome and you can NOT tell that there is no cheese in it. I swear! I have made it with all different kinds of veggies. You can use store bought tortillas, Rico's tortillas or homemade. I will add a recipe for homemade vegan tortillas later.

This consists of two recipes. The Cheese Recipe and the Enchiladas. Here is the cheese recipe:

1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (found at Whole Foods)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups water
1/4 cup margarine
1 tsp mustard

In a large saucepan, combine the flour, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. Whisk in the water and heat on medium until bubbling and thick. Remove from heat and add the margarine and mustard. Mix well and set aside.

Vegan Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

2 10 oz cans enchilada sauce
3 (14.5 oz) cans f black beans drained
2 tbsp canola or olive oil
2 med onions chopped
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup cilantro diced
10 tortillas
*I have also added 1 cup frozen corn and chopped red and green peppers

In a large skillet, add the onions and oil. You can also add any other veggies at this point that you want. Heat over skillet until the onion turns clear. Remove from heat and add the beans and cilantro. Add salsa and enchilada sauce to the cheese sauce you had set aside. Mix all of the sauces and set aside 1 cup of the sauce mixture.
You can put all of these in a large glass casserole dish one of two ways. There is the long way, which is placing a tortilla in the sauce then filling it with the veggie/bean mixture and pushing it to the end of the pan and repeating until all are filled OR the hungry mexican way which is this:

Cover the bottom of the pan lightly with the sauce then add one layer of tortillas. Add some of the veggie/bean mixture and cover with more sauce. Then Add another layer. Continue until the dish is full.

Once you have all of your enchiladas rolled or layered, take the cup of sauce you set aside and pour it over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes. Salud!

Vegan Banana Bread

I had two recipes and some of the ingredients for each. Can you say improvise?

3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
zest and lemon juice of two lemons
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 bag vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9 inch loaf pan and set aside. In a blender or food processor puree the bananas. Add the oil and vanilla and blend until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine everything else. Fold in the banana mixture, stirring just until it is mixed.
Pop the sucker in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Fat-Free Vegan Apple Banana Breakfast Muffins

Holy healthy hannah bananas! These were an awesome recipe I came across and they are super duper yummy!

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cup apple juice
1 apple diced
2 ripe bananas

Preheat Mr. Oven to 325 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased muffin pan, filling each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the muffins raise and are golden brown.

Vegan Walnut (or no nut) Brownies

Who doesn't like chocolate? Who doesn't like some big ol' chocolately nuts.....oh wait. Scratch that. Who likes walnut brownies? Extra chocolately homemade brownies!! YUM!

Ok, so these are NOT necessarily good for you. I tweaked the recipe a bit, though…sooo they are better than they are supposed to be. I will give you the regular recipe and I will put in the changes I made.

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup of stevia)

¾ cup of cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup water (I used 1 ½ cup water)

1 cup oil (I used ½ cup of oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts (or no nuts OR substitute or add 1 cup of chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix up all of the ingredients and spread into a greased, square pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (*because of the changes I made, I had to increase the baking time to 40 minutes).

 

 

What is Better than Mashed Potatoes?!?

Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples

What the yum?! I got this one out of my ‘Appetite for Reduction’ cookbook. Her recipes are also at the Post Punk Kitchen blog that I follow. This was SOOOO simple and yummy!

1 lb apples (about 2 average sized apples. I used fuji) cut into chunks

2 lb sweet potatoes or yams cut into ½ inch chunks

 *the recipe says to peel the apples and potatoes, but I LOVE the skins so I left them on

¼ cup water

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp agave nectar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

Bring water and salt to a boil. Add the apples and potatoes. Cover and reduce heat to low. Stir often. Slowly let them steam so they don’t burn. Steam for about 20 minutes until they are soft and tender. Drain. Mash with a potato masher. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Serve. YUM!

Lentil Stew

Lentil Stew

I love stew. Especially on blustery days. Here is a stew I "summerized"

1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 onion diced
1 carrot sliced
4 cups vegetable broth (*I used 5 cups)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup dry lentils (*I used 2 cups cooked lentils I had left over)
1/4 tsp pepper (*I used 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp thyme (*I used 1/2 tsp)
2 bay leaves
*** I also added 1 lb of red potatoes and 2 white mushrooms, both diced

Saute the onion and carrot with the oil for about 3-5 minutes, until the onion becomes clear.
Add vegetable broth, lentils, onion, carrot, potatoes, mushroom, pepper, thyme and basil to a stew pot. (I don't even know if that is what you call that ginormous pot. That is what I call it. The big one....). Heat to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until lentils and potatoes are soft. Remove the bay leaves and stir in the lemon juice. Yummy in my tummy!

The Infamous Vegan Deep Dish Cookie Pie

Here is the first thing: I don't make these recipes. I find them EVERYWHERE. I often put a bit of a "spin" on them, but I don't invent them. Perhaps I will someday.

I found this recipe a few months ago and have made it once (or three times) a month since. It. Is. Divine. Imagine eating cookie dough without having to worry about all that egg poo poo.

Also, as far as sweets go, this is pretty darn healthy.....unless you eat the whole pie. Which I have done.

2 cans garbanzo beans
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup (or the entire bag) of vegan or regular chocolate chips

Blend everything except the chocolate chips in a food processor or blender. Add the chips. Mix. Pour into a lightly greased pie dish or a 8 x 8 baking pan. Put in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.