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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Vegan Enchilada Bake.

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vegan-enchilada-bake

I’m baaaaack! And I’ve missed you. It’s been a crazy month, and the Family Challenges haven’t quite subsided, but I think it’s time to get back in the saddle, don’t you? I’ve been spending quite a lot of time in the kitchen as it is and have missed having y’all in there with me!

Tonight, we pulled out an oldie but a goodie from the collection: The enchilada bake recipe that lives within the dog-eared and sauce-splattered pages of my “Vegetarian Starter Kit” circa 2001 from PETA! (You can order a new version by clicking this link – it’s free. And no, PETA hasn’t sponsored this.) The starter kit really helped LeeLee and me along the way on our vegetarian journey back near the turn of the century – hee! – and I’ve turned to these recipes again and again in the years since. This enchilada bake was a staple of our lives in Tallahassee way back when, but for some reason we haven’t made it very much since our move to Virginia a decade ago. Strange! But it’s back tonight with vigor. And vim.

A quick search of PETA’s site shows that there’s an updated version here, and while the proportions aren’t quite 1:1, it’s close enough for you to get the feel of what we’re working with here. It’s a cinch to make – 10 minutes of prep time, max, and then about 45 minutes of cook time. AND you get to use Fritos, which are my very favorite chip! I love it.

We paired the enchilada bake with a nice tossed salad and sat down to eat – and eat we did, in spades. We both had two hearty servings and would have had more if it were at all respectable! Alas, we knew we’d judge one another if either of us went back for thirds, so we gracefully put our plates in the dishwasher and moved on with our nights.

The beauty of this meal is that it makes a veritable TON, so we’ve got plenty left for lunches this week! I’m looking forward to it already.

:)

Vegan Kickstart, Day 18.

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This week’s been a doozy at work (and at home – lots of side projects to tackle and shelter cats to pet!), so I’ve been a bit absent on the blog this week. But my vegan kickstart has remained fully intact in the face of such hectic times! We’ve had fajitas:

fajitas

And aloo gobi:

vegan-aloo-gobi

And vegetable lo mein:

vegan-lo-mein

And tofu-scramble nachos:

vegan-scrambled-tofu-nachos

And, finally, for tonight’s St. Patrick’s Day meal we enjoyed a recipe from a 1970 copy of Vegetarian Times (!) that has held up just perfectly over the years – Irish stew with mashed potatoes.

vegan-irish-stew

Now, I’ll give you a secret on the mashed potatoes.  I didn’t drain as much water off as I should’ve, and added a bit too much almond milk. But as it happened, I had some instant mashed potato flakes in the cabinet for an unrelated recipe, so I simply added a quarter-cup or so to the fresh potatoes, mashed to combine, and voila! Perfectly firm potatoes once more. I love a good household solution!

At any rate, I’d say this vegan kickstart is moving along quite nicely. I’ll be sort of sorry when the 21 days are up — but excited to continue experimenting with new recipes well after these three weeks!

:)

Nacho Salad Supreme.

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nacho-supreme

Now, as y’all might recall, last night I enjoyed a plate of good old nachos for dinner. With the caveat, of course, that I could certainly not do that every night lest I become as big as a house. So tonight I classed things up a little bit, taking the best and healthiest portions of last night’s meal (with some new add-ons, as well) and making a salad that is certainly worthy of being called a Nacho Salad Supreme!

I’ve written about this idea before, and as advertised in my previous post on the subject, it’s an incredibly versatile dish that can generally withstand any and all ingredient substitutions. Good thing, too: Tonight’s end result was quite different from prior iterations, but just as good.

I started out with a (thin) layer of tortilla chips and then added a hearty helping of lettuce, then half a can of cooked, seasoned black beans (drained), then two Gardein fish filets, then a handful of grape tomatoes, and some leftover olives from this weekend’s snow-day bloody Mary bar. Then I dusted the top with a little leftover shredded cheese and gave it a hearty dollop of salsa, and we were ready to eat!

To be sure, this salad makes a full meal in itself, and after a helping and a half (more lettuce and other veggies for us both!), we were stuffed and ready to … clean the basement. Well, I was, anyway; LeeLee was ready to finish the day’s work. The salad fortified us both in the end, and now the basement is half an hour’s worth of work cleaner and LeeLee has hung up his work hat (so to speak) for the night. All in a day’s work!

:)

Vegetarian Nachos.

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vegetarian-nachos

“So, what should I make tonight: Breakfast for dinner or nachos?” I asked my friend at work today. She acted as though there were simply no choice in the matter.

“Nachos!” she exclaimed. “Always go with nachos.”

In fairness, she makes a very good point. Why would I even consider another course of action when nachos were on the table (literally)? LeeLee was working late tonight so I knew it would just be me for dinner anyway … and nachos don’t really require any pots and pans or cleanup work …

Sold.

When I got home from work, I hopped-to in the kitchen and had dinner ready in minutes. Since it was just me dining at home tonight, I didn’t even bake the nachos, opting instead for the microwave. A layer of tortilla chips, several dollops of refried beans interspersed throughout, a layer of Mexican blend cheese, a generous helping of sliced black olives, some sliced pickled jalapenos, and several grape tomatoes sliced in half – then a quick 90-second turn in the microwave, and dinner was ready!

This isn’t the route I’d choose to go nightly, but once in a great while I think it’s A-OK. And it was certainly an easy, filling, and flavorful way to get dinner on the table in a hurry!   We’ll also certainly have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, so LeeLee won’t be left out after all. A win-win!

:)

Scrambled Tofu Nachos With Grits.

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scrambled-tofu-nachos

This holiday season is FLYING by! We’ve been having Big Fun, attending this gathering and that (along with enjoying our annual viewing of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation), but I have yet to put pen to paper for even one single Christmas card, and the candy supplies remain untouched, just waiting to be baked. I know the holidays zoom by each and every year, but each time I just want to grab hold of a mid-December day by the antlers and shout, “HOLD UP A MINUTE!” I love the holidays, love the excitement of them, the promise, the good will. I just wish they could be longer! Sigh. I suppose that’s what makes them so wonderful to begin with.

Anyway. Tonight was a late night at work – I’ve got a big project that’s coming due – and so by the time I got home, I was in No Mood for a lot of nonsense. So I perused the fridge and cabinets and came up with one of our favorites – scrambled tofu! This time, served atop tortilla chips, with some grits on the side. Heaven!

We both ate our fill with our plates perched atop TV trays – a casual night at home, and much-needed, too, after a long day for us both. LeeLee even encouraged me to watch an episode of “General Hospital” to unwind. What a way to end the day! The cards and candies may have to wait until tomorrow, but that’s OK. There’s still plenty of holiday season left after all!

:)

Sunday Cook-In: Vegetarian Steak Tacos With Rice.

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veg-steak-tacos-with-rice

Tis the season, friends: Tonight I had a holiday event right smack-dab in the middle of my normal cookout time, and to start the smoker either before or after said event would have been folly. Either the food would have burned to a crisp or still be cooking as I type this – neither of which is a suitable option!

So I placed my cookout goodies on hold for the week and got on with the business of making tacos instead as soon as I got home from the party. I put a pot of rice in the rice cooker along with a packet of saffron seasoning, and while it cooked, I heated up a package of Gardein “beef” tips in one pan and some refried beans in a pot. Next, I put four flour tortillas in a foil packet and baked them at 375 for about 10 minutes, leaving them in the oven after the fact.

We really made this meal for only one reason: Yesterday at the farmers’ market, LeeLee and I stopped by our good friends over at No. 1 Sons for a sauerkraut resupply mission. We never leave empty-handed, and on this particular day we decided to branch out and try something new: Molotov Kraut! Spicy and tangy, we knew it would go with just about anything we served up. And thus came the idea for tonight’s dinner! Who wouldn’t love a heaping helping of kraut on their tacos?

When the rice was ready, so were the beef tips and refried beans, so we loaded everything into our tortillas, topped them with lettuce, tomato, olives, cheese, homemade salsa, and, yes, lots of sauerkraut! Then we dug in and nearly made ourselves sick from eating so much. But we couldn’t stop ourselves – it was all just so good!

And we’ve still got plenty of fillings left for lunch tomorrow. Yes, yes, the beef tips are gone. But the beans, rice, tortillas, and add-ons remain! I can hardly wait.

:)

Taco Salad.

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veg-taco-salad

The first part of this week has been hectic – I dare say even more hectic than usual! Between a company retreat on my part to several late-night meetings on LeeLee’s, we’ve been running around like crazy. So tonight, while I knew I wanted to eat at home, I also knew I wanted something healthy and easy to make. Taco salad definitely fit the bill.

When I got home, I pulled a can of refried beans out of the pantry and opened it to heat atop the stove (in a pot, you know, not in the can!). As it warmed up, I put a bag of vegetarian ground “beef” into a nonstick skillet coated with spray and seasoned the crumbles with adobo seasoning and a bit of ground cumin for fun, then heated it on Medium. Finally, I’ve had a package of taco-shell bowls waiting in the cabinet for just such an occasion, so I got them down and heated two up in the oven for 5 minutes or so until they were golden.

And that, dear friends, was the hard part.

Once everything was heated and cooked, it was time to assemble the salads! I put each bowl atop a separate plate, then added refried beans, then crumbles, then lettuce, and cherry tomatoes, and pickled jalapeno slices, and just a smidge of cheddar cheese left over from the weekend. Next we added our favorite salad dressings – ranch for me tonight, a balsamic vinaigrette for LeeLee – and a bit of nutritional yeast for me, and we were ready to dive right in!

I must admit, there were no leftovers tonight, save for some extra lettuce leaves and two remaining taco bowls. We both came to dinner hungry and mowed down our helpings with gusto and aplomb. What wasn’t to love? The refried beans were almost creamy, they were so smooth; the taco “meat” had just enough of a kick to be interesting. And who doesn’t love tearing apart the sides of one’s taco bowl? It was a fitting meal for a busy day.

:)

Green Chile and Mushroom Quesadillas.

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onion-green-chile-quesadilla

Now, to be fair, this meal had a bit of a bumpy start.

First, these quesadillas were supposed to be Swiss chard quesadillas. But my chard went to pieces on me, becoming all brown and soft before I ever had a chance to put them together into a meal! Not all is lost – we can compost them in our smart little kitchen compost pail – but still, my heart sunk at the realization.

And before that, before I’d even entered the house, the avocado I bought today for tonight’s meal somehow managed to fall out of the grocery bag, roll down the dark Alexandria street – while I chased behind, eyeglasses hanging halfway off my face as I scurried down the way – and then into the storm drain! Oh, I was not amused. Actually, I take that back – I was quite amused. I couldn’t stop laughing, in fact. I still keep giggling every time I think of it!

So by the time I got in the house and discovered the Swiss chard situation, I merely shrugged and moved right on to Plan B. Which, I might add, happened to be an excellent plan indeed!

First, I pulled out a nonstick pan and sprayed it with cooking spray. Then I diced half an onion – the other half from Sunday night’s Italian sausage extravaganza – and added it to the pan, setting the heat to Medium. Once it started to turn translucent, I added in several handfuls of sliced white mushrooms, the larger of which I broke in half.

I scanned the cabinets, looking for more ingredients. Then my eyes fell upon one of my very favorites – whole canned green chiles!

Onto the cutting board they went, where I roughly chopped them and added them to the mix. Finally, I added some ground cumin and chipotle powder to the veggies as well, let everything heat through and soften nicely, and then took then pan off the heat.

I like to bake my quesadillas – I find they stay crispy this way, and aren’t quite as unhealthy (or unwieldy!) as cooking them in the pan with oil. So I placed about a quarter of the onion-chile mixture atop a tortilla, then topped the veggies with cheese, and finally placed a second tortilla on top, spraying it gently with some cooking spray. Then I repeated the process three more times!

All that was left then was to bake the quesadillas for about 12 minutes at 450. By the time they were ready, they were crispy and slightly brown, and the cheese was bubbly. Time to eat!

I tossed a small side salad to accompany the meal, and we feasted with aplomb. The green chiles gave a tang to the quesadillas that I hadn’t experienced before, and the mushrooms and onions are always perennial favorites. The cheddar cheese was sharp enough to handle all of the competing flavors without losing any ground itself, and soft tortillas were a wonderful bed for every ingredient to rest upon.

I have no idea why it took me so long to try green chiles in quesadillas, but you can bet that they’ll soon be mainstays in this meal! And to think, all it took was some rotten Swiss chard and an avocado in the storm drain to get me to this point. I can think of worse outcomes!

:)

Vegan Middle Eastern Tacos With Couscous.

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mideast-tacos

Oh, Soul Veg, it’s been so long since we’ve seen one another!

Tonight, I decided to whip up one of our longtime but erstwhile favorites, Middle Eastern tacos from the Soul Vegetarian cookbook (linked above).

I mixed two cans of kidney beans with some lemon juice, tahini, cumin, and garlic powder, and then let the mixture sit for the better part of half an hour while I got my evening in order. Then I took out several flat-bottomed taco shells from the cabinet, stood them up on a baking dish, and filled each one full with the taco mixture. (I had plenty of beans left over for later, but that’s part of the fun!) Then I baked the whole shebang for 7 minutes at 350 degrees and turned my attention to the couscous.

As usual, the couscous cooked up in five minutes and didn’t give me any sass along the way. And by the time it was ready, I’d chopped half an onion, several tiny tomatoes, and some romaine lettuce, and we were ready to dig in!

I don’t know why I don’t make this meal more often – it’s really one of my favorites. It’s so filling but so healthy; we both feel good and full, but not stuffed, after eating it. And the flavor profile is great. A wonderful blend of tang and savory, pungent and mild, hits the taste buds with every bite. I can’t think of a better combination!

And I also can’t think of a better lunch tomorrow than leftover tacos. That’s sure to pep up a normal Tuesday!

:)

Taco Thursday: Vegan Taco Salad.

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vegan-taco-salad-fish

True confession: This wasn’t supposed to be tonight’s meal. No, tonight was going to be a slow-cooker extravaganza with a chili I’ve been meaning to try, but then I woke up and got a whiff of the beautiful weather and thought to myself, “Let’s save the chili for another day. This is salad weather, people!” Granted, I don’t mean “salad” in the form of “iceberg wedge with lemon slice.” I think y’all know me a touch better than that these days. No, this weather called for a substantive dinner salad, one with vegan fish and refried beans and cute little tortilla bowls.

And it’s the perfect meal to enjoy after a day out and about! I took a personal day from work today to catch up on some appointments I’ve been putting off, with some errands tucked in between them, and by the time I came dragging back home – just as tired as I am when I’ve worked in the office a full day! – I knew a salad would be the perfect restoration indeed.

Indeed, this taco salad has protein, and fresh veggies, and some festive fun besides – who doesn’t love a salad masquerading in a tortilla, I ask you! And it’s easily customizable no matter what you’ve got hanging out at home. For us, tonight, we enjoyed a layer of refried beans, topped with a serving of Gardein fish filets, then plenty of romaine lettuce, then some cherry tomatoes fresh just today from our friends at Great Country Farms, then some black olives, and some beets, and finally just a hint of nutritional yeast (for me). We topped the whole shebang with some vegan sour cream and salsa, then a little homemade dressing, and were off to the races!

This is admittedly an easy sell in our home. There’s never a time when we’re not up for Mexican, and we both love the salad-for-dinner route. So vegan taco salad is never a difficult situation for us to be in! And it’s so incredibly easy to make, there’s no reason not to enjoy it often.

As it happens, we’ve got a couple of extra taco shells hanging around now that dinner is over with. There’s only one thing to do next: Have them for brunch this weekend! Tofu-ranchero bowls, perhaps? Stay tuned!

:)