Vegan Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

I don't feel like this recipe really needs any introduction; who doesn't love enchiladas? Especially creamy, cheesy, spicy enchiladas? Mmm, I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it.

This recipe was inspired by this recipe on VegWeb. After some major modifications, here is the deliciousness I came up with:

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Makes 1 9x13" Pan

4 oz "chik'n strips", or equivalent frozen, thawed and drained tofu (not silken!), diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 poblano chile, seeded and diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 potato, peeled and diced small
1 cup corn, canned or frozen
1 cup black beans
1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
1 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
6 oz Tofutti "Better Than Sour Cream", or to taste
1 tbsp chipotle in adobo, pureed
1 16 oz. can green or red enchilada sauce, or I like this recipe, with the spices majorly amped
1/2 recipe Favorite Cheese Sauce, found in this post
9 - 12 6" corn tortillas, softened in the microwave
lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, guacamole, black olives etc for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 500F.

2. Toss the chile, zucchini, onion, potato, and corn in olive oil. Spread on a foil-lined baking pan. Roast until starting to brown, stirring several times throughout. The amount of time you roast will depend on how dark you like your vegetables.

3. Turn the oven down to 350F. In a large bowl, toss together "chik'n" or tofu, roasted vegetables, beans, cilantro, tomatoes, cumin, oregano, sour cream, and chipotle in adobo until well combined. This is your filling.

4. Spread a small amount of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Dip each tortilla in the enchilada sauce, stuff with filling, roll, and place seam-side down in the pan. Continue until you run out of tortillas/filling, or until your pan is full.

5. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over top, and carefully spread the Favorite Cheese Sauce over that. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese sauce is slightly browned and bubbly.

6. Serve immediately, topped with tomato, green onion, lettuce, guacamole, black olives, or whatever you'd like.

Supertoddler's Little Vegan Meals - Super Noodle Soup

Today I bring you another of Supertoddler's favorite Little Vegan Meals. In addition to fighting crime and destroying a tidy house in a matter of seconds, Supertoddler also souper loves...soup. This dinner features his favorite comfort soup - a brothy noodle soup with carrots and onions. Quick and easy to make, this pairs nicely with whole grain toast, fruit {Supertoddler's choice was grapefruit and blood orange}, and soy milk.

Super Noodle Soup
2 big servings

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
4 cups vegetable broth {I use Better than Bullion No-Chicken Broth Paste}
2 oz angel hair pasta, broken into thirds

1. Saute the onion and carrot over medium heat, until softened, about 8 minutes.

2. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the angel hair pasta, and allow to bubble for 5 - 8 minutes, until pasta and carrots are both tender. Serve with toast or bread for dipping.

You can add just about anything to this soup, including beans, panfried tofu, vegan "chicken", or other vegetables. Supertoddler prefers his Super Soup just like this...but maybe someday I'll sneak in some celery.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Having grown up in the Mormon church, there will always be a special spot in my heart {and on my dinner plate} for casseroles. If you're not familiar with Mormon food culture, let me introduce you to our world in one quick sentence: Casseroles, and lots of them. There are casseroles for every occasion, but one of the most "telling" of the Mormon casseroles is the beloved funeral potatoes {aptly named because they are generally served to the grieving family after a funeral}. These creamy cheesy potatoes are comforting, full of fat, and decidedly not vegan.

Imagine my nostalgic delight upon finding this similar recipe on VegWeb. After a bit of tweaking, I think this recipe will satisfy any vegan's longing for Mormon Funeral Potatoes. Here is my version:

Vegan Funeral Potatoes
Makes 1 9x13" pan

1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup no-chicken broth {I use Better Than Bullion No-Chicken Broth Paste}
8 oz. vegan sour cream {I use Tofutti Better-Than-Sour-Cream}
1 recipe Favorite Cheese Sauce {recipe below}
2 lb bag of frozen hash browns, thawed {squares}
3 cups corn flakes cereal
3 tbsp vegan butter, melted {I use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks}

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13" casserole dish {preferably glass} and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir together soy milk, broth, sour cream, and cheese sauce until well combined. Fold in hashbrowns gently until well coated. The mixture will be very soupy. Do not be alarmed, it will thicken in the oven. Spoon the mixture in the prepared casserole dish.

3. Crush the corn flakes and mix with the melted butter. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

4. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for another 15 minutes or so, until the casserole is heated and has thickened, and the corn flake topping is crisp. Serve immediately.

Favorite Cheese Sauce
Makes 3 cups

1 cup raw cashews {pieces is fine, they don't have to be whole}
2 cups water
1 small red bell pepper {or 1/4 cup canned pimentos or roasted red peppers}
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth, several minutes. Pour the sauce into a medium-sized pan, bring to a slow bubble, and cook until it has thickened.

Roasted Radishes and Broccoli

I am a major proponent of roasting vegetables. The caramelization that happens during the process of roasting brings out all the inherent sweetness in the vegetables, without adding much extra fat.

I was in the grocery store one day, looking at the radishes and thinking "Radishes, you are the stupidest vegetable ever. What are you good for?" As I picked up some broccoli {my favorite vegetable to roast}, it dawned on me...maybe radishes would improve if I roasted them! I grabbed a couple of bundles, and went home to try my experiment.

I preheated the oven to 400F, tossed the radishes and broccoli in a drizzle of olive oil and a few grinds of pepper and salt, spread them out on the pan, and roasted them until they were starting to caramelize and brown on the outside {about 20 - 30 minutes, stirring several times throughout}.

The resulting radishes were nutty and full of a mild, sweet flavor. Alas I had finally found a use for that pesky no-good vegetable!

A word of slight warning: the texture is not what you might expect. In the roasting process, the radishes lose all of their denseness, and the result is an internal texture that is a touch on the mushy side. The Ninjahusband found it kind of weird, but I didn't mind it at all.

Give roasting a try...try it with any vegetable! I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find something that was not improved by a little olive oil and salt and a brief stay in your oven.

Supertoddler's Little Vegan Meals - Tofu Dinos, Roasted Broccoli, Strawberries

I figured, since I'm raising a little Supertoddler, it might be helpful to other parents if I posted his meals from time to time. Just like any toddler, the Supertoddler is picky and likes to exert his independence in every way possible, especially at mealtime. He may eat foods that are unfamiliar to non-vegan kids and families, but by involving your kids in the preparation of food, you'd be surprised what you can get them to eat!

A Little Vegan Meal that the Supertoddler recently enjoyed was tofu dinos, roasted broccoli, and strawberries.

Roasted Broccoli: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut broccoli into bite-size florets and place in a relatively large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and freshly ground salt and pepper. Have your child toss the broccoli {with clean hands} to coat, and then spread the broccoli onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until desired doneness is reached, stirring half way through. Roasting broccoli makes it crunchy and nutty, and more friendly to a kid's palette.

Tofu Dinos: While the broccoli is roasting, drain a block of extra firm tofu. Give it a gentle squeeze in a towel to get out as much extra moisture as possible without compromising the structural integrity of the tofu. Slice horizontally into 4 large sheets. Pat each sheet dry with a paper towel. Let your little one help you cut shapes out of the tofu with cookie cutters, saving the scraps for a future date {did someone say tofu scramble? Yum!}. This time Supertoddler chose dino shapes, but you can use whatever you'd like. Heat a bit of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the tofu, and cook until golden brown on both sides {about 5 minutes on the first side, 3 on the second}. Remove the tofu shapes from the pan, drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with salt while they're still hot. Serve with dipping sauce of choice {Supertoddler likes stone ground mustard}.

This meal can be rounded out with a fruit of your child's choice {in this instance, Supertoddler demanded strawberries with such conviction that I was sure his little life was going to end if he didn't get them}, and a grain {Supertoddler wanted whole wheat toast}.

Stay tuned for the next installment in Supertoddler's Little Vegan Meals.

Decadent Cherry Torte

My sweet sister-in-law, noticing that I never ate any dessert at family functions {not vegan}, set out to make a delicious dessert for me as a surprise for our next family function. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at her house to find that she'd made me a decadent, fluffy, creamy, sinful, and delicious cherry torte! The dessert was one of the very best things I've ever put in my mouth. After thanking her profusely, I asked her for the recipe. She emailed me the link she'd gotten the recipe from.

I made some slight modifications, and made the torte again myself, this time for a group of friends.

Decadent Cherry Torte
Serves 8 - 12

1 cup vegan butter {I used Earth Balance buttery sticks}, softened
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4 tbsp unrefined sugar
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips {I used Ghirardelli brand}
2 10oz cartons Soyatoo Soy Whip {I found mine at Good Earth}
1 8oz tub Toffuti Better Than Cream Cheese {Good Earth, Harmon's, and Whole Foods all carry this}
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 21oz can cherry pie filling

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together butter, flours, and unrefined sugar until coarse, even-sized crumbs are formed. Press the mixture into a greased 9x13" pan, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

2. Turn off the oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips over crust, and return to still-warm oven for 5 - 10 minutes until chocolate chips are soft. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate chips into a thin even layer. Set the crust aside to cool.

3. While the crust cools completely, whip the Soyatoo according to package directions. In a separate large bowl, blend cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Carefully fold in the Soyatoo until the entire filling is well combined.

4. Spread the filling into cooled crust. Gently top evenly with the cherry pie filling, and chill for at least 3 hours {overnight is preferable}. Cut into squares and serve.

Note: You can leave out the chocolate chips if you prefer a simpler dessert, or if you don't like chocolate. Ninjahusband preferred the torte without the layer of chocolate. I preferred it with.

General Tao's Tofu

Recently I've been discovering the wonder that is VegWeb.com. Previously I was wary of the site, being that all the recipes are user-submitted {and I remember a particularly horrendous mushroom pate that a friend made using a recipe from that site. It included dried stuffing mix...} However, I discovered upon further investigation that each recipe has a user rating, as well as comments and pictures that can give you a pretty accurate idea of how the recipe is going to turn out before you make it.

The most popular recipe on the site, hands down, is General Tao's Tofu. Naturally, it was the first one I tried. As I was making it, I noticed a few things that could use a few tweaking {and some serious re-writing, for clarity}. Here is the recipe, re-written and including my tweaks.

General Tao's Tofu
Serves 4

16 oz container extra firm tofu, drained, pressed, and cut into cubes
flour, in a shallow dish
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for frying
4 chopped green onions
1.5 tbsp minced ginger
1.5 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup vegetable stock
3 tbsp soy sauce
6 tbsp sugar
a pinch of red pepper flakes {to taste}
1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar
1.5 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 tbsp cold water
1 lb broccoli, steamed

1. Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a large pan until hot but not smoking. Coat the tofu in the flour. Transfer the tofu to the pan and fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp additional oil in a separate pan over medium high heat. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic, and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, until tender. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Stir in the vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and vinegar. Whisk in the cornstarch and water mixture, and cook the sauce for several minutes, stirring often, until bubbling and thick.

3. Add the fried tofu and steamed broccoli to the sauce, tossing lightly to coat. Serve over your choice of rice.

If you like, you can leave the broccoli separate and serve it on the side.