Vegetarian “Beef” Enchiladas

by joycevandenbergporterJanuary 31, 2018

Okay, these are seriously good! I was experimenting with a couple of vegetarian enchilada recipes last week as potential Superbowl options and we liked both. I posted the Vegetable Enchiladas recipe for Meatless Monday and here is the second recipe, as promised. These enchiladas are based on a typical enchilada recipe using ground beef but using vegan ‘beef’ crumbles instead with surprisingly good results. My meat lovers claimed they couldn’t taste the difference. I also added whole corn kernels and fire roasted canned tomatoes to round out the flavors. It’s very easy to make this vegan by using a vegan cheese.

Historically, I have not been a fan of substitute or vegan ‘meat’ products, just because I don’t usually like them. However, the vegan food industry is exploding with really great products and Beyond Meat, in particular, has opened up a whole new world of vegan meat substitutes. Their Beef-Free Crumbles are soy and gluten free. They are made from a pea protein and provide the same amount of protein as ground beef but only half of the fat (which is canola oil). I have liked every product that I have tried so far, so you may see a few more recipes in the future using their products. And for the record, they don’t pay me to promote their products or even know about my little blog (unfortunately). A couple of my other favorite vegan products are Miyoko’s vegan butter (and her soft cheeses), Kite Hill Ricotta and Just Mayo (which is also made from pea protein). All three products are as good as or better than their dairy counterparts.

TIPS: I found that 6 enchiladas fit easily in a 13 x 9 glass baking dish. If you don’t have a larger one, you may want a little extra sauce. Do not forget to heat the tortillas before filling them or they will split.

“BEEF” ENCHILADAS

1 15 oz can Red Enchilada Sauce (or more if using multiple pans)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 16 oz package frozen Beyond Beef crumbles
1 15 oz can Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, drained
4 oz Diced green chile peppers, drained
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1-1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (or half pepper jack cheese)
12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
Cooking Spray
1 4 oz can sliced black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 2 13×9-inch glass baking dishes with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of baking dishes.

Saute chopped onion until soft and translucent. Add ‘beef’ crumbles and cook several minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in drained tomatoes, drained chilis, corn and 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Warm tortillas in damp papertowels in the microwave for 30-45 seconds to make them pliable and prevent splitting. Spread the middle of each tortilla with 1/4 cup ‘beef’ mixture. Roll up and place seam-side down in baking dish.

Spoon remaining sauce over top of enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Garnish with black olives or sliced jalapenos, if desired.

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake 20-25 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and cheese melts.

Servings: 12 enchiladas
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 15 oz can Red Enchilada Sauce
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 16 oz package frozen Beyond Beef crumbles
1 15 oz can Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, drained
4 oz Diced green chile peppers, drained
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1-1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (or half pepper jack cheese)
12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
Cooking Spray
1 4 oz can sliced black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of baking dish. If you are using more than one dish, you may want extra sauce.
Saute chopped onion until soft and transluscent. Add ‘beef’ crumbles and cook several minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in drained tomatoes, drained chilis, corn and 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
Warm tortillas in damp papertowels in the microwave for 30-45 seconds to make them pliable and prevent splitting. Spread the middle of each tortilla with 1/4 cup ‘beef’ mixture. Roll up and place seam-side down in baking dish.
Spoon remaining sauce over top of enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Garnish with black olives or sliced jalapenos, if desired.
Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake 20-25 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and cheese melts.

Meatless Monday – Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Pinto Beans, Corn and Zucchini

by joycevandenbergporterAugust 10, 2015

Sometimes you just want to go South of the Border… I’m talking about Mexican food – nachos, tacos and burritos – delicious but often calorie and carb laden. To satisfy my craving but keep it healthy, I made these yummy, spicy Poblano peppers stuffed with summer favorites, corn and zucchini, along with creamy pinto beans and shredded cheddar, all grilled or roasted to cheesy deliciousness. Yum! This is a great summertime Meatless Monday recipe. It takes advantage of seasonable vegetables that are plentiful and cheap, and only takes about a half hour to assemble and cook. On hot summer days you can grill them outside to avoid heating up your kitchen, or if you are not grill savvy, they can be roasted right in the oven. Best of all, the peppers can be assembled ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for a day or so before cooking. Easy! Fast! Done!

I love the moderate spiciness of Poblano peppers which have more oomph than a bell pepper but are not quite as hot as a jalapeno. They are also large enough, when stuffed, for one or two to serve as a main course. That said, not everyone in my family likes spicy food so I stuffed several sweet bell peppers to satisfy those less daring diners. Bell peppers are also larger so good for a heartier appetite – colorful too!

However, if you can tolerate spicy foods, the experts claim that spicy foods have many Health Benefits. Studies show that the main compound in chilies, called capsaicin, may cause the body to burn extra calories for 20 minutes after eating. Chili peppers can also reduce the damaging effects of LDL (bad cholesterol) and capsaicin may fight inflammation, which has been flagged as a risk factor for heart issues. Vitamins A and C strengthen the heart muscle walls, and the heat of the pepper increases blood flow throughout your body. All of this equals a stronger cardiovascular system. (SELF) So eat up and pour on the hot sauce. You’re doing your body good!

Enjoy them plain or fully dressed with a squeeze of lime.

TIPS: When removing the lid (stem end ), make sure you keep the lid with the matching pepper, otherwise it will be like solving a complicated puzzle to get them to fit later and you don’t want all the stuffing to fall out while they cook. I also recommend cutting veggies into a fine dice to ensure that they are properly cooked. Since these peppers don’t need to cook for very long, larger cut veggies may not have time to soften. The flavors will also blend better if everything is cut a similar size. Think chopped salad.

Recipe Adapted From: Cooking Light, August 2015

POBLANO PEPPERS STUFFED WITH PINTO BEANS, CORN AND ZUCCHINI

(15-ounce) can unsalted pinto beans, rinsed and drained
8-10 medium poblano peppers (or Anaheims) or 6 bell peppers
2 ears fresh corn on the cob or 1 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 red bell pepper
1 small zucchini
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

TOPPINGS (Optional)
lime wedges
chopped fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley or basil)
crumbled queso

Preheat oven to 450 degrees or grill to high heat. Cut bell pepper and zucchini into a small dice and place in a medium bowl.

With a sharp knife, cut kernels of corn from the cob and add to the other veggies.

Add pinto beans, cheese, salt and pepper to the bowl and stir to combine. (for a less cheesy, lower calorie meal use 1 cup of cheese, or double the quantity for cheese lovers)

Remove tops from poblanos and reserve tops. Scoop out seeds; discard.

Place about 1/2 cup bean mixture in each pepper.

Replace pepper tops and secure each with wooden skewers. I broke 10 inch skewers in half and used 3 per pepper.

Brush peppers evenly with oil. Place peppers on grill or oven rack; grill or broil 12 – 15 minutes or until lightly charred, turning once after 6 minutes. (Larger peppers may need to be cooked longer to properly heat the insides.)

Place stuffed peppers on a platter; remove skewers. Serve stuffed peppers with lime wedges, crumbled queso and fresh herbs.

Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Pinto Beans, Corn and Zucchini

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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TOPPINGS (Optional)
lime wedges
chopped fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley or basil)
crumbled queso

Preheat oven to 450 degrees or grill to high heat.
Cut bell pepper and zucchini into a small dice and place in a medium bowl.
With a sharp knife, cut kernels of corn from the cob and add to the other veggies.
Add pinto beans, cheese, salt and pepper to the bowl and stir to combine.
Remove tops from poblanos and reserve tops. Scoop out seeds; discard.
Place about 1/2 cup bean mixture in each pepper. Replace pepper tops and secure each with a 4-inch skewer.
Brush peppers evenly with oil. Place peppers on grill or oven rack; grill or broil 12 – 15 minutes or until lightly charred, turning once after 6 minutes. (Larger peppers may need to be cooked longer to properly heat the insides.)
Place stuffed peppers on a platter; remove skewers. Serve stuffed peppers with lime wedges, crumbled queso and fresh herbs.

In My Garden – June

by joycevandenbergporterJune 13, 2014

Somehow I missed May which went by in a blur, while I was attending weddings, graduations and bar mitzvahs. Yet my garden survived. I was too busy to notice my artichokes were ripe until it was too late, so I decided to let them flower. Aren’t they glorious, and they’re not done yet! The second one is about to bloom…

Since I planted back in April, I have been harvesting a steady crop of lettuces. There are a few ways to harvest lettuce (and kale and chards). You can cut the entire plant off at the base, remove the roots and replant. Sometimes, a plant will regrow if you leave a few inches but I’m often too impatient to wait. You can also just pull up the whole plant by the roots. Or you can remove just the outer leaves and allow the plant to keep growing, which it does from the center (so don’t remove those leaves). Eventually though, it will bolt (flower or go to seed) and you then need to harvest or cut back the whole plant. I started my lettuces out in nice rows but by now it’s quite the hodgepodge, since I replant as I go, but I think it looks pretty that way. I always have seedlings and mature plants going along together so something is always ready for my salad bowl .

My tomato plants are mostly doing well and I have harvested a few tomatoes. The Green Zebra and Black Krim were first. This time of year, I remove all the yellowing leaves near the base of the plan!t and any others that look yellow, spotted or diseased. If you have any plants that really look sick, just pull them out and replace them with healthy seedlings. It’s not too late . I just did that last week with one of my plants. Tomatoes love to be buried deep and will put out more roots if you pile soil amendment around them.

My new experiment is with companion gardening. I have had terrible luck growing basil. They seem to be eaten to the ground by the next morning after planting. So I planted them among my tomato plants and they have so far lasted almost a week. Apparently tomatoes repel the critters that like basil. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I have been harvesting blueberries about a half cup at a time, just enough to eat for breakfast or add to a salad, but they are delicious!

My zucchini is just starting to grow up the trellis and I have a few harvestable fruits. Hmmm, recipes starting to swirl through my head…Send me your best ideas!

Sugar snap peas are making their way up the teepee but not producing yet.

My non GMO corn is two or three feet tall. I have never grown corn before, I’m excited about my tiny crop!

My main problem, though has been critters. It’s wild animal kingdom here! Most recently, it’s gophers. If you have ever found mounds like these that my dog, Lola, is checking out in my lawn, you know what I mean! This time of year their babies are learning the new routes underground, so there is lots of activity and they leave giant earth mounds in their wake. About 10 or 15 years ago I became obsessed with the gophers and went “Caddyshack”. I have vivid memories of trying to smoke them out and running around blocking all the exits as smoke kept finding new areas to escape, as my small boys watched, noses pressed to the window. “Mommy’s gone crazy!” The gophers were too smart for that though and just went to lower ground to wait it out. Over the years, however, I have just learned to co-exist with my subterranean ‘friends’. I try to keep them off my lawn and out of my vegetable garden and pretty much let them roam to their hearts content around the rest of the property. I have tried all kinds of home remedies, hot red pepper, hair clippings, windmills and several others to no avail. The product that I am having the best luck on my lawn with is Repellex, which is a repellant not a poison, made with castor oil, cinnamon oil, garlic oil and white pepper. They don’t like the smell or taste and they stay away. It is non-toxic and biodegradable but wears off in about a month or so, so you have to reapply.

The main task though is WEEDING! Do it now while the soil is still soft or it becomes back breaking work. The second task is to mulch or amend the soil, especially in California with our drought conditions. Mulching provides nutrients and helps retain moisture in the soil.

I am only a weekend ~~warrior~~ gardener, so check out the links below for some expert gardening tips.

What To Do In the Garden in June – About.com Regional guide for ornamentals, vegetables, fruit trees, trees and shrubs and pest control.

Calendar of Gardening Tasks for June – The Garden Helper Tips on flowers, shrubs, vegetables and lawn care (even house plants).

How to Plant a Vegetable Garden in June – eHow For those that haven’t planted yet. It’s not too late if you do it right!