Everyday Tastiness

Vegan Tex-Mex Lasagna

2013-05-03T13:44:00.001-05:00

While browsing through my copy of the “Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health” last night, I stumbled on ‘Layered Tex-Mex Lasagna” from Mary McDougall (page 130). Being a cold night with snow in the forecast, it sounded delicious! It’s layered corn tortillas with pinto beans, corn, black olives, and onions for the filling and drenched in tomato and chipotle sauce.

I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I ended up modifying it to use what I had available. I replaced the tomato sauce with grilled chipotle sauce and the green onions with red. It has quite a kick to it.

We both really enjoyed it. I think some fresh cilantro on top would really bring it up a notch.

If you haven’t watched the film “Forks over Knives”, I urge you to check it out on Netflix or Amazon.

You can get a copy of the book here:

Making Maple Syrup at SapFest

2013-04-08T07:55:00.001-05:00

This weekend was SapFest. It is a small, annual event run by a friend. He has a few acres and several Sugar Maples. In the early spring, folks come out and help gather the sap into buckets and then watch it boil. He claims it is the outdoor equivalent of watching paint dry, but my wife and I found it more exciting than that.

I’ve been surrounded by Maple syrup most of my life. I thought I knew how it all worked, but seeing it was a bit different than I excepted.

The trees are tapped in early spring/late winter and the sap starts to flow when the day time temps are above freezing and the night time below 32F. We’ve had the perfect weather the last week.

A shot of the tap. The blue bag sits on the tap via the little hold. The small bump on the top holds it near the tree.

Once there is some sap collected in the bag, it is time to collect. My wife and I had fun traipsing through the snow and mud to collect. Even though it was sprinkling and MAYBE 40F, it was fun.

The sap looked a lot different than I expected. I guess I was thinking it would be thicker like pine sap or something. It had a lot in common with water. The sap at this stage is only 2-3% sugar, and the rest is water.

After our sap run, we had filled up about 30 gallons. The next step was to pour them into a holding barrel to await evaporation into syrup. The large barrel feeds into the trough on the top (below). From the top it slowly drains into the much larger trough on the bottom which is kept boiling.

You can see the color difference between the freshly collected sap left and the slightly tan on the right. (below)

The evaporating process takes many, many hours. It also requires a LOT of sap. depending on which source you read anywhere from 40-66 gallons of sap to create one gallon of syrup. It becomes syrup once it reaches 66% sugar according to the Canadians who are the world’s biggest producer of Maple syrup.

I’m looking forward to trying some of the syrup once it is complete. It was a fun day outside, with friends, shooting the breeze standing next to a roaring fire. The homemade beer was pretty good as well! It was probably the best SapFest ever.

If you’d like to learn more about Maple syrup I found the links below very helpful.

Restoran Natural Vegetarian Food Centre

2013-03-29T12:48:00.001-05:00

Delicious vegetarian food in the Pandan Indah section of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. This was the first restaurant in Malaysia that we ate at when we were there earlier this year.

The inside of this restaurant is common to many others we encountered in Malaysia. They are simple rectangles in a series of other buildings with one wall open to the outside. Usually the cooking pots are on large propane burners near the door or buried in a separate room in the back. Most restaurants don’t have air conditioning just very large fans.

A case of steamed buns stuffed or plain. They were very delicious. A different flavor on each row. Some had veggies and some had meat made from gluten. The ones filled with red bean paste were my favorite.

Another view of the inside. They had a few items setup buffet style, and also had a few items made to order. It is a simple restaurant. The food was great and each dish was only about a dollar or two (USD).

Every time I had a variation on the noodle dish seen below. So delicious and all Chinese vegetarian which essentially means vegan minus garlic and onions. This dish had some bokchoy, mushrooms, fried tofu, gluten pork, and the amazingly tasty rice noodles.

The food was great here. We went back many times. This is also the place that sold the JezRipe Vegan Gelato I wrote about earlier. Thinking about this restaurant now is making my mouth water. So Tasty.

PS: Restoran isn’t a typo, that’s how they write Restaurant in Malay.

Restoran Natural Vegetarian Food Centre
Jalan Pandan Indah 4/10
Pandan Indah, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Google Map of location (the green arrow).

Review: Native Seeds

2013-03-26T07:53:00.001-05:00

I enjoy trying new foods. I also enjoy collecting different types of beans, so I was excited when I found Native Seeds as they have a unique collection that I haven’t seen or heard of before: Colorado River Beans, Moon Beans, Four Corners Gold Beans, and a bunch more.

Native Seeds is a nonprofit seed conservation organization in Arizona. They collect and preserve endangered traditional seeds from the Southwestern United States.

Their website is well organized and filled with lots of pictures. I placed an order online and promptly received it within a few days. The box was filled with biodegradable packing peanuts, a nice touch. Everything was clearly labeled too.

I ordered the following: Box o’ Beans (4 random kinds), Blue Corn Posole, Chipotle Bean Chili Mix, and Colorado River Beans. The Box o’ Beans contained: Black Turtle Beans, Four Corners Gold Beans, Moon Beans, and Yellow Indian Woman Beans. I was a bit disappointed to receive black beans in the box, but I suppose they have to put in something cheap to keep the cost down.

Most of their beans are sold for about $5 per pound. They are unique, so they can command a higher price. I have been able to find the more common ones like black or pinto for $1-2 per pound.

The beans we’ve eaten so far have been great. We both really liked the Moon Beans and of course are in love with the Blue Corn Posole. I did find some Red Corn Posole locally at a Mexican grocery for $2.50 a pound versus the $5 a pound for Blue at Native Seeds. We have yet to eat the red. We haven’t eaten the chili mix yet either. Every time we open the package, we are trapped into burying our noses in the mix. It smells amazing.

I love the concept of Native Seeds, preserving traditional plants. Their rarity makes for a delicious treat. Their prices are a bit high, but the unique offering makes it worthwhile to me. We will order again in the future to support their work. They seem well organized and efficient. It would be great if someday the beans and grains they protect would become more common.

Checkout their website at: http://www.nativeseeds.org

Dinner at Gorkha Palace Restaurant

2013-03-23T09:24:00.001-05:00

Gorkha Palace is one of our favorite restaurants. They serve delicious food from Nepal, Tibet, and India. There are vegan, vegetarian, and meaty items all clearly marked on the menu, so there is something for everyone.

It’s usually full on the evenings and weekends. If you have a party of at least four, they will take a reservation. Thursday nights they have a live sitar playing. Get there early to get a table.

The artwork on the walls all comes from Nepal. Take a moment to walk around and look at it if you can. My favorite is the painting of the real Gorkha Palace in Nepal shown above in the upper left.

Above is a light and crispy papadam. They frequently bring this out for free as an appetizer to dinner.

Our favorite drink is the spiced black tea. We like it black and extra strong.

The veggie pakora above is one of our favorites. It is a crispy, chickpea battered, fried collection of cabbage, onions, and jalapenos with some mint and tamarind chutney on the side. I like mine plain; my wife likes hers with the chutney.

I always order some roti or garlic roti so soak up the curry. It is a vegan whole wheat bread tandoor bread.

My wife’s favorite is the Chyau Takari (shown above/below) which was recently removed from the menu. She loves the medley of mushrooms and spices.

My favorite (shown below) was also removed from the menu, but it was replaced with something I like even better: Channa Saag.

Channa Saag is very similar to the Channa Masala (above/below) in that it has chickpeas and potatoes in a curry gravy, but with added spinach. The spice combination is slightly different on the Saag too.

Take the time to visit Gorkha Palace. The staff is very friendly, the food is amazing, and the prices reasonable.

Gorkha Palace
23 4th St NE Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-886-3451

Pigeon Pea Soup

2013-03-16T09:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, was a cold and snowy day, and we were craving soup. The Pigeon Peas and Rice were all gone. We still had more pigeon peas. This savory soup fit the bill nicely.

As I mentioned in the last post, pigeon peas (pictured above) are tasty little legumes. They cook up similar to black beans. We like the slightly chewy skin of the peas.

This soup would go well with some chopped celery and garnished with some chopped cilantro.

Ingredients

4 cups cooked pigeon peas
1 cup water
4 cups vegetable broth
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5oz
1 can diced green chilies, 4oz
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dry thyme

Method

In a medium pot, add the water, onion, and garlic. Cook until tender
Add the tomatoes, green chilies, thyme, and cumin. Cook for about five minutes.
Add the vegetable broth and pigeon peas. Bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Enjoy!

Makes: about four servings

Pigeon Peas and Rice

2013-03-12T20:10:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago we were stopping at a Mexican grocery store. I love walking the aisles looking for tasty treats. On this particular trip, I was drooling over the large selection of dried beans and legumes. There were several I had never seen before including Pigeon Peas, so I bought them.

The instructions for cooking on the back where similar to other beans: soak overnight, and then cook in lots of water until soft. I dumped the entire one pound package into a large bowl and rinsed them off. After rinsing, I filled the bowl up with water and put it in the fridge overnight. I didn’t want them sprouting while soaking. It happened with chickpeas once!

They cooked up like black beans at about 90 minutes. So now I had the beans cooked, what to do with them? After lots of Google searching, the following recipe was born.

It is a delightful medley of texture and flavor. Slightly sweet with a touch of savory. The pea’s thick skin in contrast to the soft rice. A nice blend of colors. This recipe would be great on a hot summer day.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked Pigeon Peas
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups water
1 chopped red onion
4 cloves minced garlic
1 chopped yellow bell pepper
1 can diced green chilies (4oz)
1 can diced tomatoes drained (14.5oz)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Method

Pour 1 cup of water into a large pot and heat.
Once water is hot, add the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes.
Add the pepper, chilies, tomato, cumin, allspice, and thyme. Cook for a few more minutes.
Add the Pigeon Peas, brown rice, and last cup of water. Bring to a boil.
Let simmer for 15 minutes until water is absorbed.
Add chopped cilantro and serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Makes about five cups.

Funny Comic

2013-03-06T15:59:00.001-06:00

A funny vegan comic. I like the irony in the last two frames.

Blue Corn Posole Stew

2013-03-04T19:19:00.001-06:00

I first learned about posole when I read “Born to Run”. I had never heard of it, but I was interested to eat it. I was inspired to make this after reading several different recipes for Posole Soup online. It is rich and savory with an impressive amount of flavor. I served it with homemade baked corn tortilla chips. Yum!

I found the posole on www.nativeseeds.org. It is a form of corn and tastes very similar to hominy. It has a slightly chewy texture that both my wife and I found appealing.

Now on with the recipe!

Ingredients

1/2 pound dried blue corn posole
4-5 cups posole cooking water
2 tomatoes
1/2 red onion
5 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons Rapunzel Vegetable Broth powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1 cup cilantro (chopped)

Method

Rinse and soak the posole overnight, then drain and rinse.
Cook the posole in at least 8 cups of water, covered for 1-2 hours or until tender.
Keep the cooked posole and 4-5 cups of the cooking water depending on how thick of stew you like.
Take 1 cup of the cooking water along with the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and 1/2 cup beans and blend until smooth.
Add the blended mixture, the rest of the beans, broth powder, oregano, cumin, and bay leaves into the rest of the cooking water with the cooked posole.
Stir and bring to a boil.
Let simmer uncovered for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
Mix in chopped cilantro and serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Makes about 4 servings.

Scalloped Potatoes

2013-03-01T16:57:00.001-06:00

Sometimes you just need something warm and savory. These scalloped potatoes hit the spot. Light and creamy and full of flavor. It won’t take long to make a batch. Give it a try.

Much to the delight of my wife and friends, I have been perfecting this recipe for the last few weeks. It is quickly becoming a house favorite. I think it’s ready to share now. Let me know what you think!

If you don’t want to slice the potatoes, I’ve found you can cube them (1/2”) and achieve similarly delicious results.

Ingredients

6-8 average sized Yukon gold potatoes
1 cup Rapunzel Vegetable Broth (double strength)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Method

Preheat the oven at 400F
With the skin on, cut the potatoes in 4mm slices or slightly less than 1/4 inch. A food processor makes this very easy.
Mix a cup of strong vegetable broth from powder such as Rapunzel vegetable broth. 1 cup water 1-2 teaspoons powder.
Layer the potato slices side by side until the first layer in complete.
Lightly wet the potatoes with the broth mixture.
Then sprinkle with some of each of the spices. Go back to #4 until all the potato is used up. I usually have two layers for an 11x17” pan.
Slowly pour the remaining vegetable broth on the potatoes ensuring not to disturb the spices.
Place a cookie sheet over the pan and bake for about 40 minutes.
Remove the cookie sheet and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Southwestern Rice and Beans

2013-02-09T12:12:00.001-06:00

I like simple to make and tasty food. This dish is a favorite at my house because it meets both of those conditions. It takes less than five minutes of prep time. This time I modified my recipe for Easy Southwestern Rice by adding one 15oz can of rinsed pinto beans. Otherwise the recipe is the same. Click on the link to see the full recipe.

Here is a close up shot of the ingredients before the rice maker is turned on.

After about 30-35 minutes, it was done and we were ready to eat. Who knew adding salsa could add so much flavor with so little effort. Our favorite salsa to add is a chipotle-lime that we purchased at Costco.

Dr T. Colin Campbell at TEDxEast

2013-02-01T08:37:00.001-06:00

A couple of you expressed interest in my class at eCornell on the fundamentals of nutrition that I mentioned in my previous post. I’ve finished the first few sections, and I am enjoying it.

The video below was mentioned as extra material. Since it is on YouTube, I can share it with you! It is a very summarized version of the first few modules of the course - several hours of material in less than twenty minutes.

Enjoy!

YouTube: Resolving the Health Care Crisis: T. Colin Campbel at TEDxEast

Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition

2013-01-30T07:17:00.001-06:00

Today, I start the first of three courses at eCornell: TCC501 Nutrition Fundamentals with the goal of completing a certificate in plant based nutrition.

They are all online courses, and I hope to complete one per month for the next three months. While they have no direct relation to my job or career, I hope they will make me more informed.

Nutrition Fundamentals focuses on the following topics:

State of Health
Protein, A Revered Nutrient
The China Project
Nutrient Fundamentals I
Nutrient Fundamentals II
Fat, A Less Revered Nutrient

I’m excited to start. I’ll report back later with my thoughts on the course and eventually the certificate.

Vegan food at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD)

2013-01-19T09:04:00.001-06:00

My wife and I recently found ourselves with a few hours to kill and a fierce appetite while waiting to catch a flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD). We spent some time wandering around and came up with two options for tasty food. There may be more, but we quit looking after finding these two.

The first was Cibo Express (Terminal 2) pictured above. I was happily surprised to see the sign on the left. The photo below shows the detail on the gluten-free and vegan section.

Cibo Express features several tasty items from Soul Gourmet. The cheesecake was tempting, but I wanted something savory. We dashed over to the counter looking for the Mac n Cheese.

To our dismay, we only found the cheesecake. They were sold out of the kale salad as well. We chatted with the cashier, and she said they were expecting a shipment within the hour.

Further down the terminal we found a store called “Farmers Market” (Terminal 2). They had several fresh fruit and veggie options, but the most appealing to me was the “Italian Bean & Rosemary Salad” pictured above. I love beans, so I purchased it and started eating it almost immediately.

Ingredients: Cannellini beans, garlic, rosemary, red pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. yum! I would definitely buy this one again. It was pretty simple, so I will probably try making it at home.

My wife didn’t want anything from “Farmers Market”, so she went back to check on Cibo.

She picked up a grilled veggie and tofu sandwich on tomato basil bread. She liked it a lot.

She also found the delivery guy dropping off the latest Soul Gourmet shipment! It had one gluten free, soy free, macaroni & cheese pictured below.

Ingredients: Rice noodles, almond milk, olive oil, lemon juice, cornstarch, parsley, paprika, fresh garlic, salt, and nutritional yeast.

It was a bit frozen from it’s cold journey outside before entering the airport. I let it warm up in my backpack before enjoying it on the plane. It was surprisingly good. The rice noodles worked well with the “cheesy” flavor from the nutritional yeast. I would buy it again.

We were both happy to see several tasty options available at the O’Hare Airport located in Terminal 2.

JezRipe Gelato

2013-01-11T07:44:00.001-06:00

I have eaten a lot of frozen treats in my time, and quite a few of them vegan. I was surprised and excited when I found JezRipe Gelato on a recent trip to Malaysia. It is made locally in Malaysia from fresh fruits and other ingredients sourced from Italy. It is delicious. They have many flavors including: durian, mango, strawberry, passion fruit, coconut, lychee, peach, lemon, dragon fruit, banana, orange, kiwi, pineapple, papaya, jack fruit, watermelon, chocolate, and vanilla.

I’ve tried the vanilla, lemon, coconut, and chocolate so far; all of them have been delicious. JezRipe is dense and rich. It comes in small containers with a little spoon. Perfect for the hot Malaysian afternoons. The problem is, I haven’t been able to eat just one per sitting and always end up getting a second container. JezRipe is tasty.

Gelato and ice cream aren’t actually the same there are several differences, so here are the main ones. Ice cream has a higher concentration of fat and usually more air. Since gelato has less of both it interacts with our tastebuds differently making the flavors seem more intense and the texture more creamy. In a word, tastiness.

JezRipe’s website in the banner below doesn’t seem to be working as of this post, but you can find them via their Facebook page.

Cinnamon Rolls

2012-12-04T20:20:00.001-06:00

Vegan Cinnamon rolls are a rare thing to find, but are so easy to make. I had forgotten about their deliciousness until I was in Vancouver earlier this year at Edible Flours. Then again a few weeks ago at the Donut Co-Op in Minneapolis we both enjoyed some the size of our heads.

I made cinnamon rolls last weekend for my wife, but I was lazy and used the bread machine to make the dough. The machine over-kneaded the dough, and the rolls were very tough as a result. This version is machine-free and much better. They are full of cinnamon flavor and have a soft fluffy texture.

Since they are for my wife, and she doesn’t like the icing, I didn’t make any. It can easily be made with a little powdered sugar (1/2 cup), some soy milk (3 Tbl), and vanilla extract (1/4 tsp).

Ingredients

Dough

1 2/3 cups warm water
3 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 teaspoons yeast

Filling

5 tablespoons earth balance
1/3 cup raw sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Add the ingredients for the dough to a large mixing bowl in the order listed and mix until smooth
Let the dough rise for at least an hour in a warm place
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Knead the dough and shape into a rectangle about 16 x 12 inches.
Melt the earth balance in a small bowl to start the filling
Add the sugar and cinnamon to the small bowl and mix until smooth.
Spread the filling on the dough rectangle until evenly coated.
Sprinkle the walnuts evenly onto the filling.
Roll the dough tightly lengthwise to end up with a tube 16 inches long.
Cut the dough into eight pieces and place into a greased baking pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
Serve while warm. Enjoy!

Makes 8.

Sunday Dinner

2012-12-02T19:36:00.001-06:00

Tonight’s dinner was inspired by Genevieve over at TwinCitiesVegan. She wrote about how much she loved Chipotle and how she was making some of the raw ingredients at home. Coincidentally, we had Chipotle for lunch yesterday. I had never thought about making the black beans or cilantro lime rice. We headed to the store to procure a few missing ingredients.

I followed the two recipes she linked: copycat cilantro-lime rice and copycat vegetarian black beans. The first recipe intrigued me since it suggested boiling the basmati rice, and I hadn’t tried that before. It turned out to work quite well. In fact, it was very similar to making farro. Next time I make the rice, I will add a touch of olive oil before boiling the rice to help the rice from clumping.

The black beans were pretty straight forward. I had everything I needed to make them except for the allspice. An interesting spice I hadn’t used before. There isn’t much called for, but I think it adds an extra dimension to the flavor. One thing the copycat recipe was lacking was bay leaves. Several times I’ve had the Chipotle staff scoop out the bay leaf as they add the beans to the rice.

On the side we had roasted red potatoes with some red onion and a large amount of spices all tossed in some tasty olive oil and baked for an hour. It’s one of our favorites. I especially like the crispy chunks of potato that are stuck to the bottom of the pan.

A tasty dinner. I had seconds.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2012-11-25T09:40:00.001-06:00

This thanksgiving I spent with my family, and it was entirely vegan except for a small turkey breast. He claimed vegan food “tastes like sawdust and cardboard.” It made us all laugh. Especially when he in-haled the Brussels sprouts and potatoes.

Starting in the upper left is a bowl of sweet potato and pineapple covered with some earth balance and raw sugar and then baked. Yum. On the plate at 12" o-clock is some butternut squash steamed with ginger. Upper right, is the delicious Brussels sprouts. We were lazy this year, so no homemade cranberries; just the jelly from the can. Center is a kale salad with roasted pumpkin seeds. Upper left are the Idaho potatoes and carrots from the garden outside. They were baked with the Trader Joe’s Turkey-less roast on the left.

This was the first time I’ve had the Trader Joe’s Turkey-less Roast. I am not a very big fan of Trader Joe’s which is going to sound like blasphemy to some as there is a cult following I do not understand with this store. My experience with most of the Trader Joe branded products has been disappointing. Yes, the price is low, but so is the quality and more importantly low flavor.

I was surprised, this roast was good. I would eat it again. My favorite roast is still Tofurky. Turkey-less was much better than the disaster we had last year. This one was made primarily of soy and wheat gluten and had a texture similar to white breast meat. The filling in the middle was a wild rice blend. It was also good.

Desert was vegan pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Both were delicious. There could have been a photo, but they were devoured like we were sick and the cure was inside. It was a good meal.

How was your thanksgiving? What was your favorite dish?

Whole Foods Takeout

2012-11-22T08:48:00.001-06:00

My wife brought us home a surprise last night. On her way home, she stopped at Whole Foods and bought some tastiness from the deli.

We split the beet burger (upper right). It was ok. She liked it a lot more than I did. The texture was nice, but the flavor didn’t appeal to me. In the upper left, was the wild rice and cranberry roast. The pastry crust was awesome as was the “meat”. The cranberry/wild rice middle was just ok; I thought a bit of a let down with how awesome the crust was. The roasted harvest vegetables were awesome. She asked the girl for extra Brussels sprouts too. yum. The veggies were my favorite from this takeout expedition.

After dinner we dove into one of the FOUR vegan pumpkin pies she bought. Apparently, there were only five left, so she bought four. LOL. Into the freezer they go. The pie was tasty.

Vegan Cupcakes at Ethique Nouveau

2012-11-04T08:18:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, we went to a Meetup to enjoy some tasty cupcakes at Ethique Nouveau which claims to be the only 100% vegan store in the area. I would have to agree with them on that one. I can’t think of another.

They had two flavors: peanut butter & jelly and piña colada. We bought two PB&J and one piña colada. We brought our own container to save on trash.

While I was checking out the cupcake photos on the computer, our cat decided to sample them. Interestingly, she only licked the frosting off the piña colada one.

My wife and I ate the other two. I like the PB frosting; it reminded me of the PB soy ice-cream from Izzy’s. Yum.

Funny Comic

2012-08-29T09:52:00.001-05:00

I think this comic is funny: lurking variable

PS: I have no idea how many days it has been for me. :-)

Veggie Enchiladas

2012-08-21T11:16:00.001-05:00

While I was browsing the web the other day, I stumbled across some black bean sweet potato enchiladas. They sounded really good, so I set about creating my own recipe. The result is delicious vegan enchiladas with lots of flavor and texture.

I wanted my enchiladas to have lots of flavor, color, and texture as you can see from the ingredient photo below. They turned out really well, so well in fact that after making them for Sunday dinner, I made them again on Wednesday night. The combination of the enchilada sauce and the salsa smelled great.

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato cubed
1 can sweet corn
1 can black beans
3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chipotle lime salsa
1/2 cup Daiya pepperjack cheese
3 cloves minced garlic
1 medium green bell pepper chopped
16 oz red chile enchilada sauce
12 8” tortillas

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Cube sweet potato into 1/2” to 3/4” cubes and bake for 25 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, gently mix: sweet potato, black beans, corn, 2 Tablespoons cilantro, salsa, 1/4 cup cheese, garlic, and bell pepper.
Place a couple scoops of the mixture in each tortilla, roll up, and place in baking pan.
Repeat #4 until pan is full or until mixture is gone.
Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Garnish with remaining cilantro and serve.

Veggie Enchiladas by

Chris Luhman @EverydayTasty

Yield: 12 enchiladas

Carrot Cake with Walnuts

2012-08-13T07:59:00.001-05:00

This weekend my wife was craving cake. It also happened to be the third anniversary of my motorcycle blog. We set out to find some vegan cake, as I wasn’t in the mood to heat up the house while baking.

Our first stop was Whole Foods in Minneapolis. We found a small vegan carrot cake from Chicago Diner there. We’ve eaten at Chicago Diner, and it was very tasty. Without any hesitation, we bought it. It looked good sitting in the bakery case; I wasn’t particularly excited about a $24 six inch cake thought. A bit pricey.

We took it home and dressed it up for the moto blog.

Then we started eating it. It was mostly tasty. We both agreed the cheesecake frosting was a bit rich. The bottom layer of the cake also seemed dry compared to the top two. It felt like they knew it was a bit on the drier side and covered it in frosting to compensate. The walnuts on the outside provided a nice crunch and some texture variation.

In all, I’d probably give this cake a 2/5 or 2.5/5 stars. Perhaps this one was a bit older and not as fresh. It was the only vegan cake they had at Whole Foods. The others had already sold out. A bit of a let down considering the other stuff we’ve had from Chicago Diner has been fantastic.

Extra Bananas? Make Bread!

2012-08-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

After our regular weekend shopping we had some extra bananas in the kitchen. The ones from last weekend were getting very ripe and just begging to be made into something. Have extra bananas? Make bread of course!

Following my recipe for Banana Bread with Walnuts, I made a double batch. We had one full sized loaf and then several little ones. Wow! The house smelled great. So moist and tasty. I need to go have another slice before I can finish this post. The photos are making me hungry!

Some might say summer is the wrong season to bake. I say, tastiness doesn’t need to wait especially for the weather.

PS: I loved these pictures so much I updated the original recipe post to use them. The old one is so sad in comparison, I had to delete it.

Sunday Brunch

2012-08-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

On our way to lunch on Saturday, my wife and I were talking about which restaurant to go to as we were driving to Minneapolis. Neither of us had strong feelings on where to go, so we just listed restaurant names at each other until we ended up at one.

One of my first suggestions was French Meadow. Just the name made my mouth water thinking about the classic vegan breakfast with crispy hash browns, tofu scramble, and crumbles. We decided to skip it because of traffic concerns with the uptown art fair in progress. However, the thought of those tasty hash browns sat in my brain like a splinter.

Sunday morning, I knew what I had to do, and tastiness was created. I made a tofu scramble on spinach, smoked tempeh, and hash browns. The hash browns weren’t ordinary potatoes, but made from a medley of purple, red, and gold. I cooked them until they were a nice crispy golden color. The combination of the three flavors was delicious.

Another tasty brunch.