It's Nada Enchilada!

I love Mexican food more than Speedy Gonzalez loves his sombrero. I could eat it at least twice a week, probably more.

This recipe was inspired by an Amy’s frozen dinner:

I saw it in Earth Fare over the weekend and it looked sooo good; the price tag, however, did not. One of these little frozen entrées runs around $3.99. My thrifty side kicked in & I figured out I could make four to six servings for around $8.00; granted not all the ingredients I used were organic (as Amy’s are).


So, here’s what I used:

1 small can chopped green chilies
1 small can sliced black olives
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans (soak ‘em if you got ‘em…I was in a hurry & hungry!)
8 corn tortillas
1 medium can red enchilada sauce
1 medium onion; diced/chopped
1 Jalapeño (if you likey the spicy)
2 tsp. taco seasoning (from this blog)
Pepper Jack Almond Cheese...Don't forget the cheese!!

Sauté diced onion with about 1 tsp oil for about 2 minutes. Add taco seasoning and jalapeño and sauté for a good five minutes.

Add green chilies, black beans and half the enchilada sauce and cook until heated through (this is when you should taste it to see if you’d like more seasonings).

Meanwhile, mix remaining enchilada sauce with refried beans (I microwave them for about 30 seconds so it mixes easier).

Just be a grown up and get over how it looks.

Heat oven to 350 degrees (F) and begin to layer your ingredients: Tortillas, bean mixture, Sauce/Veggie mixture, olives and cheese. Repeat. That’s how I layered, but you can do it any way you like.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

While it’s baking, you can prep your garnish:

When 20 minutes is up, uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.

When you take it out, let is set for at least 5 minutes.
There ya go.

And if $2 per serving isn’t exciting enough, see how this little creation stacks up to the meatier versions:

Now, you could shave off a even more fat and calories if you left out the cheese and black olives. I l♥ve black olives and this brand of almond cheese really melts and tastes great. You could also sub Mexican rice for the refried beans. I thought about doing that, but the hubby has a “thing” about Mexican rice.  It baffles me.

So, play with it and let me know what variations you come up with!
 

Tacos with a Side of Love

This is what we had for dinner last night...
It was oh-so-delicious! The hubby liked it (which is always what I inform meat eaters about a vegan dish). If it’s Husband Approved, it’s good to go!

Here’s what you’ll need...

Tacos:

1 package frozen Boca (or Morning Star, etc) Soy Crumbles

1 Alton Brown Taco Spice Mix: 
   2 Tbs. chili powder
   1 Tbs. ground cumin
   2 tsp. cornstarch
   2 tsp. kosher salt
   1 ½ tsp. hot smoked paprika
   1 tsp. ground coriander
   ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
1-2 Tbs. oil (canola, safflower, veg, etc.) or ¼ cup veggie broth
1 Medium Onion
Tortillas (preferably corn b/c it’s better for you!)
Vegan Sour Cream
Lettuce, tomato, [vegan] cheese, other toppings

A Side of Love:
2 (15 ounce) cans cooked black beans
2 Tbs. oil (canola, safflower, veg, coconut, etc.)
2 Tbs. minced yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. kosher salt
¼ cup masa de harina (or corn meal)
Tomatillo [green] Salsa

First, let’s start on the taco “meat”:
Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a sauté pan of your choice. Add onion & sauté about 1 minute; add 1 Tbs. of the taco seasoning and cook on medium heat for another 2-3 minutes. Add soy crumbles (totally fine if they’re frozen) and 1 more Tbs. of taco seasoning. Cook about 3-5 minutes (until it has thawed) and decide if you need to add more oil. You’ll probably need to since soy crumbles have a lot less fat than ground beef.
   1 lb of Ground beef = 1,200 Calories, 93.6g fat & 37.6 saturated fat!
Dude, good thing you’re using soy crumbles!!
Taste your mixture to see if you’d like another Tbs. of taco seasoning (I did!). It was perfect after that!

Move the onion/soy crumble mixture to the back burner and let it relax for a bit. Time to make taco shells. Why not buy them? Because the taste like cardboard and you don’t like cardboard, do ya??

Preheat oven to 350F. Look around your kitchen and see what you can fashion into a taco shaper. My husband suggested his rib rack holder-thingie.

Worked great! I used a little foil to hold the tortilla in place for the first 4 minutes, then took it off and baked another 4 minutes.

Now…it’s time for a Side of Love!
You might be asking yourself, what the hell is a side of love? Technically it is two black bean cakes topped with tomatillo salsa, sour cream, feta cheese and red onions. I had this at a restaurant in Atlanta, GA called The Flying Biscuit. It seemed easy enough to recreate, so I did…with my own spin.


Directions for a Side of Love:

Rinse and drain black beans in a colander. In a small sauté pan heat 1 Tbs. of the oil over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, cumin and salt until onions are translucent.

Place beans & onion mixture in a bowl and mash with a potato masher until well combined (I like to leave a few whole beans for texture). Gradually add masa, allowing mixture to absorb it before adding more. Test dough by rolling it in the palm of your hand. Keep adding masa until dough doesn’t stick to your hand and holds the shape of a ball.

Divide dough into 12-14 balls and flatten into cakes. Mine were about “large golf ball” sized.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Sauté cakes until lightly browned on each side, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. I topped mine with green salsa, soy cheese, vegan sour cream and banana peppers.
Voila! A healthy, yummy, interesting and attractive dinner!

All this took me about an hour (start to finish), so it wasn’t that bad. Plus, leftovers tonight should only take about 10 minutes or less!



Vegan Taco Salad