Showing posts with label Vegetarian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegetarian. Show all posts
When I first moved over here to the UK, the idea of ever being able to enjoy Tex Mex delights seemed to be but a distant dream.
These types of ingredients were few and far between and very hard to come by. There are still some things which are really hard to find, but happily there are quite a few ingredients which are a lot easier to find. Yay.
I think we can owe a lot of credit for that to Tomasina Miers who won Master Chef
in 2005 and whose main speciality has always been Mexican Cuisine! Greatly influenced by her frequent trips to Mexico, she is the co-owner of the Wahaca Chain of Restaurants.
This recipe I am sharing with you today is one which I first saw on the Betty Crocker site and have adapted to what is available here in the UK.
It looked really delicious and really simple to make. I also was able to halve the recipe quite successfully for just we two Tex Mex food lovers.
So what I do is roast fresh green jalapenos and then chop them up and use them.
Put
the beans, chilies, and salsa into a blender or food processor. Blitz
until smooth. Pour into a pie tin. Take your tortillas one at a time
and dip into the bean sauce to coat. (I leave it flat in the dish to do
the following) Sprinkle 2 TBS of the cheese blend over half of the
tortilla and fold over to a half moon, fold in half and then in half
again. You should have a triangular shape. Place into the baking dish.
Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Spoon any remaining sauce over top
along with any remaining cheese. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot
with your favourite toppings!
Just wash them and roast them in a hot oven (225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7) until blistered, take them out, pop them into a plastic bag, let sweat, peel and chop up. You can discard the seeds if you want less heat.
I blitzed the beans, salsa, and peppers in my CookHouse Kitchen mini food processor. It works a charm. Dip flour tortillas in the result, fill with cheese, fold and fold again.
Placed into a baking dish, with the remaining sauce spooned over and additional cheese and baked, these are such a doddle to make and very quick as well.
You can have them on the table in about half an hour tops, and that is stretching it!
Top with sour cream and your favourite taco/nacho/enchilada toppings to serve.
I used sour cream, some salsa and a kind of fresh salsa that I made by chopping together fresh parsley, red onions, and green and black cured olives.
Normally I would have used spring onions, but I was lacking them, and I have to say what I did use was really, really delicious! YUMMY even!
*Enfrijoladas Bake*
Serves 5
What can I say . . . refried beans, green chilis, tortillas, salsa, cheese, delicious!
1 (435g) tin of refried beans (16 oz.)
1 can (4.5oz) tin of chopped green chilies
(I used 4 fresh jalapenos, roasted and chopped)
240ml thick and chunky salsa, any strength (1 cup)
240g 4-cheese blend (2 cups)
1 package (6 inch) flour tortillas for soft tacos and fahitas
To serve (Just some suggestions):
chopped spring onions or red onions
dairy sour cream
chopped black olives
grated cheese
chopped coriander
more salsa
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Set aside.
I really hope you give these a go! They are simple and quick to make and I think your family will really love them. Mexican food is one of those things that doesn't really look overly appealing, but the flavours are really delicious. I used corn and wheat tortillas which is what I had and they worked beautifully. Provecheeto!!
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About 20 years ago now, I met a lovely lady named Jacquie. It was when I was being taught by the Missionaries of the church I belong to. She and her husband Tom used to come with them on occasion when they were teaching me, and actually we became pretty good friends through the process. I love Jacquie and her husband. They are pretty wonderful people. I don't know what I would have done without their love and support during my first year in the church. They really took me under their wings when my life fell apart and did everything they could to help me. I will always appreciate the love and the care that they gave to me.
Jacquie was an Iridologist, Herbalist and Reflexoligist. Her house always smelled so wonderful, all herby and delicious. She gave the best foot massages and she could tell what was ailing you just from looking into your eyes. She also made the most amazing Tofu Burgers. I used to love being invited over to hers when she was making them for dinner. At first I didn't know what to think when she said she was having Tofu Burgers, but with one taste I was hooked. Ab fab, as they say!!
I was recently asked by the people at Tofuture if I would like to try out their Tofu Press. I immediately thought of Jacquie and her Tofu Burgers. How could I say no!
Tofu is one of the most versatile, healthy and delicious foods around, but to get the most out of it, you really need to press it. The unique and stylish Tofuture Tofu Press removes the water from unpressed tofu simply and effectively. The gradual nature of pressing will give your unpressed tofu the perfect texture and consistency enabling it to absorb gorgeous marinades or the beautiful flavours of the dish you are preparing.
It consists of three pieces. A white base. A green inner tub with a perforated bottom which allows for the water to drain out, and a lid which acts as a press. It has really strong elastic bands which clip down beneath those little white bits you see sticking out on the base, to hold it on and press down on the tofu, with three different levels of pressure.
Its very easy to use and comes with very clear instructions on how to use it.
Here you see my package of Tofu and the Tofu Press.
Remove the tofu from the packaging, draining off and disposing of any liquid. Place the block into the inner tub with the perforations and place that tub into the base.
Clip on the lid, by pulling the elastic bands down around the hooks and push the handles down to impart a continuous pressure on the tofu.
Now leave the press in the fridge for the desired amount of time, you don’t need to return to the press to increase the pressure half-way through the pressing time. The longer you leave the tofu, the better it will be pressed.
We recommend the following guideline pressing times depending on what you are making.
Short press, 15-30 mins – for ‘cheese’ sauce, ‘chocolate’ mousse or ‘cheese’cake
Medium press, 1-2 hours – for pasties, quiches and pies
Long press, 4 hours to overnight – for stir-fries, kebabs and baked tofu
I used a medium press for these burgers.
*Jacquie's Tofu Burgers*
Makes 10 servings
This delicious recipe comes from my longstanding friend Jacquie. I have enjoyed many of these in her home. They are fabulous!
1 pound tofu (firm)
160g quick oats (2 cups)
4 spring onions chopped
1 TBS each tomato ketchup, mustard, and Bragg's All Purpose Seasoning (can use Soy Sauce)
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp oregano flakes
salt and black pepper to taste
Oil for frying
Crumble
the tofu into a bowl, along with some of the water from the pressing
(only as needed to give you the right consistency). Add the oats and
stir well together. Mix together the onions, garlic granules, oregano,
seasoning and the ketchup, mustard and Braggs. Mix this into the
tofu/oat mixture until well combined. Have ready a large sheet of plastic
cling film. Dump onto the cling film and form a log. Roll the cling
film around the log, twisting at either ends like a Christmas cracker.
Tuck the ends underneath. Place in the refrigerator and let chill
overnight.
When you are ready to cook, slice off as many burgers as you are wanting, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.
The press is compact and easy to store. The outer tub can also be used as a bowl for marinating your pressed tofu. To find out more about this nifty piece of kit, or purchase one, do check out the Tofuture website. There are recipes and tips and everything you need to know about the Tofu Press. You can also buy this press via Amazon in the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy.
Follow their feed on Instagram
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Check them out on Facebook
Many thanks to Tofuture for sending me this Tofu press for the purpose of review. Very much appreciated. I was very impressed with the results and I am looking forward to using it in the future for all sorts!
Note - although I did receive a press free of charge, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange.
This dish I am showing you today is a fabulous vegetarian main dish, filled with lovely flavours and textures, always assuming that you still eat eggs and cheese.
If not, well, then I can't help you! It makes good use of leftover cooked potato, or you can cook potatoes fresh to use in it.
I confess, I have also used tinned new potatoes, drained well and sliced into rounds. They worked quite well. I usually have a few tins of new potatos in the cupboard.
Did you know that new potatoes are fairly low GI? It's true and when you combine the with a fat (cheese) and a protein (egg) you lower the GI even more.
When combined with a slice of whole wheat bread and some salad, that makes this quite a diabetic-friendly meal.
I add cooked green beans to add a small portion of your five a day, and to add some colour. We quite like them.
My friend Jacquie used to make a potato pie that was absolutely gorgeous. It had plenty of green beans in it. I lost the recipe after I moved over here and the last time I e-mailed her, my e-mail bounced back.
I will have to contact her daughter on Instagram to see if there is a new e-mail address I can contact her with. I really hate losing touch with good friends.
I always called Jacquie my White Angel because she had beautiful white hair, just like a shining gossamer halo. She was so good to me when my last marriage broke up and I was on my own. She was a wonderful friend, along with her husband Tom. I could not have asked for two more loving and supportive friends.
They are just two very special people. Tom was a vegetarian and Jacquie practiced the art of food combining. She was an iridologist, reflexologist, and herbologist and was very good at all three. I think that she is the one and only friend I have ever allowed to have access to my feet.
If you have never been to a reflexologist, you really need to treat yourself sometime! You will feel like a million bucks afterwards, truly! Jacquie always told me that all disease starts in the bowel. She could look at your eyes and see what was wrong with your organs, etc.
She was a really special gal and very good at what she did. Her home always smelled wonderful, like herbs and garlic. I loved it, and I loved her Tofu Burgers. Also very tasty.
But back to this delicious casserole. You could serve it as a side if you wanted to and it would serve more people, but as a main, it serves 4 to 6 depending on appetites.
It really has fabulous flavours . . . and yet it is so simple.
Cheese, onions, potatoes, and green beans are layered up in a dish and then a seasoned milk and egg mixture is poured over top.
You bake it, covered, for about 20 minutes or so, uncover it and give it a stir and then bake it for another 20 or 25 minutes, until all of the flavours have melded and the custard has set properly. It is almost like a baked potato and cheese omelet, and very, very good.
*Cheese & Potato Pie*
Serves 4 - 6 
Butter an oven-proof dish. Layer in the potato, grated cheese, onion and greenbeans alternately, ending with a layer of cheese.
Beat together the eggs and milk, seasoning lightly with salt and black pepper. Pour this mixture over the potatoes and cheese in the dish. Cover tightly with a buttered sheet of foil.
Cook in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and stir the potatoes from the outside to the centre. Cook, uncovered for a further 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.
This really makes for a lovely light supper. We have it with buttered whole wheat bread and a mixed salad on the side. I love the supersalad salad greens which have baby kale, rocket, spinach and baby chard in them, along with shredded beetroot.
They are fabulous. I hope you will give this a go! Bon appetit!
I put my hand up! I adore salads, and it doesn't have to be summer for me to enjoy them. I am the salad Queen! Todd, on the other hand, is not so fond of them. One, he's a man, and two, prior to marrying me, he had been served far too many mediocre salads. It happens. I have to confess, that for such a simple concept, I have never (in 18 years) had a good salad in a restaurant over here. They charge an arm and a leg, but you get literally no bang for your buck. I don't understand this as we have some of the most beautiful fresh ingredients available to us in the world. How can they get it so wrong!
Mexican food was not something I ever had when I was a child, and I dare say, unless you lives in the American South West or California, it wasn't something you had either. It was just not very common at all. I think this was largely due to the fact that none of us really travelled very far from where we lived. We lived in a much much smaller world. When I was a girl, Chinese food was about as exotic as it got! And maybe Spaghetti or pizza. We are all very well travelled these days and most of us have been on foreign holidays and tasted the world. I think that is a wonderful thing!
I was sitting here trying to think what my first experience with Mexican or Tex Mex food might have been, and I think it was when I got this Sunset Cookbook magazine back in the late 1970's. There was a recipe in it for Chicken Enchiladas (that I still make and love) and I made them after Thanksgiving one year, using some of our leftover turkey. I think we were living in London Ontario at the time. They were really, really good.
Suffice it to say, I absolutely adore Mexican/Tex Mex flavours. It can be somewhat of a challenge over here to cook them, because not all of the ingredients are available, but somehow I cope. For instance you cannot get green enchilada sauce, masa harina, tamale fixings, tomatillas or the canned green chillies . . . although they do have mexi-corn. (Go figure!)
I can usually get by somewhat however, by adapting things a bit. For instance, I tend now to buy green jalapenos and roast my own, which works fine, or in a recipe like this one today, I just finely mince them and throw them in raw, with no problem.
Tortillas are a very common ingredient here, they use them a lot for wraps. You can get wheat and corn ones and there is a variety that is a coconut and black pepper type, which are very nice. I like the corn ones. You can also buy jarred enchilada sauce, but I like to make my own. I have a great recipe that works out very well and is delicious. I have included this below also. Its very easy, and you can use whole wheat flour in it, which is much better for you than the plain flour. More protein, and in a vegetarian dish like this, a bit more protein is a very good thing.
These are delicious. The filling is very simple, just corn and beans, cheese and enchilada sauce . . . not much of a fiddle faddle. They go together in a jiffy, even the sauce. I think you are going to love them. I know we do.
*Black Bean & Corn Enchiladas*
Makes 4 servings
240g grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 cups)
480ml enchilada sauce (2 cups)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready a 13
by 9 inch glass baking dish which you have lightly buttered. Pour 120ml
(1/2 cup) of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the dish and spread
it out.
Mix together the beans, corn, green chili, 120g of the cheese (1 cup) and 60ml (1/4 cup) of the enchilada sauce in a bowl.
Spoon 1/8th (1/2 cup) of the bean mixture down the centre of each
tortilla. Roll up tightly and place, seam-side down into the dish. Spoon
the remaining enchilada sauce over top and sprinkle the remaining
cheese over all. Butter a sheet of aluminium foil and cover the dish
(butter side down) with this, sealing it tightly.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until heated through completely and the cheese in the filling has melted thorougly. Let stand a few minutes prior to serving.
Serve garnished with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream,
spring onions or salsa if desired.
*Enchilada Sauce*
Makes 480ml (2 cups)
480ml hot vegetable stock
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
By the way, May the Fourth be with you! haha. Yes. I did wait 364 days just to be able to say that. Bon Appetit!
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