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Tag Archives: adobo

Smokey Kale and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole

Smoky Kale and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole #vegan

Whew, that’s a mouthful to say!

If this sounds familiar, it should: it’s a variation of my Layered Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole from last May. They’re both very similar, only this one has both kale and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, so it’s spiiicccyyy. And smoky. And really hearty with all those potatoes and tortillas- kind of perfect for the cold snowy month of March.

Smokey Kale and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole (8 hearty servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of kale, washed, destemmed and torn
  • 1 teaspoon powdered garlic
  • 3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2.5 cups smashed)
  • 2-3 chipotles in adobo sauce, plus about 1 Tablespoon of the sauce, diced
  • 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 10 oz can rotel with green chilies, drained (if you want the dish a little less spicy, get the mild with no chilies)
  • 1 cup sweet corn kernels, thawed or drained
  • 1/2 cup taco sauce (medium or hot, your call) plus a couple of Tablespoons
  • Juice and zest of 2 limes
  • Sea salt
  • 12-14 taco or fajita sized flour tortillas, all sliced in half
  • 1.5 cups salsa (again, you pick the heat)
  • Daiya mozzarella for topping

Directions:

  1. Water sautee the kale with the powdered garlic until tender, then set aside.
  2. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes, then boil until tender.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the beans, rotel, corn and taco sauce, mixing well.
  4. When the potatoes are cooked, mash them and add lime juice, sea salt, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce and set aside.
  5. Drizzle the bottom of a 9×13 casserole or baking dish with 2-3 T taco sauce, making sure the entire bottom is covered. Arrange tortilla halves across the bottom.
  6. Cover the tortillas with half of the sweet potato mixture, gently spreading to get maximum coverage. Next, add a layer of the kale followed by a layer of the bean/corn mix (half of what you have), followed by another layer of tortillas.
  7. Repeat once, ending with a layer of tortillas (this makes 3 layers of tortillas, 2 of everything else), then cover with salsa and cheese.
  8. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 5-8 until the  cheese is fully melted.

Enjoy!

 

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Spicy Bean and Rice Burritos

Vegan Rice & Bean Burritos

Rice & Bean Burritos

These were simple to make, delicious, and as an added bonus were very cheap to make. My favorite part? The smokey heat provided by the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce was the perfect accompaniment to the crisp lettuce and creamy sour cream. Yum. The recipe below is enough for 3 burritos… I actually made two and took the rest to work with me for lunch.

Spicy Rice & Bean Burritos (Makes 3 burritos )

Recipe adapted from A Bitchin’ Kitchen Recipe (non-vegan)

Ingredients:

  • 1 T EVOO
  • 1 t minced garlic
  • 1 t chili powder (I used a NM blend)
  • 1-2 peppers from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced (depending on taste- I used 1.5)
  • 1.5 t adobo sauce from can
  • 1/2 t cumin
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 can red kidney beans
  • 1/2 can black beans
  • 1 handful of Daiya cheese (I used cheddar)
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • 1/4 cup salsa
  • 3 large burrito tortillas
  • Shredded lettuce
  • 2-3 T vegan sour cream

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet over medium, heat the oil and add the garlic, chili powder, chipotles, adobo sauce, cumin, water and beans for 5-6 minutes until everything is warm and the water is gone.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, rice and salsa.
  3. Divide the mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla, then top with lettuce and sour cream. Roll them up good and tight, you don’t want any goodness escaping!

Enjoy!

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Spicy Pasta Salad

Vegan Spicy Pasta Salad

Spicy Pasta Salad

This was another one of the dishes I prepared for the BBQ-turned-dinner-party last weekend. A (seemingly) pretty basic pasta salad recipe with vegenaise, tomatoes and sweet basil, the “secret” ingredient here is Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce! That spicy, smoky flavor added by the peppers and the sauce takes this dish from “just another side” to “THE side”.

The original (non-vegan) recipe called for just the sauce, but I wanted to make mine a little hotter so I added 2 big peppers, chopped up, to the bowl. You can see one hanging out in the bowl, right by his friend the tomato:

Vegan Spicy Pasta Salad

As you can see, I left mine a bit chunky, which adds to the heat level. You can mince yours more finely, or just stick to the sauce itself if you don’t want too much heat.

I’ll be making this again this summer, mark my words!

Spicy Pasta Salad (Makes 8 servings)

Adapted from a non-vegan recipe

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz pasta (I used one of those “trio” mixes, but any salad-type pasta would work)
  • 3/4 cup Vegenaise
  • 1/8 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk (or non-dairy milk of your choice)
  • 4 T apple cider vinegar
  • 2 t Adobo sauce from can, PLUS 2-3 chopped peppers (if you like heat)
  • 1 t sea salt
  • black pepper (if desired)
  • 10 oz grape tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 15-20 sweet basil leaves, chiffonade

Directions:

  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions, then rinse with cold water.
  2. Mix Vegenaise, coconut milk, vinegar, salt, pepper and adobo together, and taste. Add more heat, salt, etc.
  3. In a large bowl mix everything together, including the dressing. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Vegan Spicy Pasta Salad

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Crispy Potato Soft Tacos

Vegan Crispy Potato Soft Taco (Inspired by Taco Bell)

Crispy Potato Soft Taco

Ahh Taco Bell, that guilty pleasure of omnivores and vegetarians alike. I don’t remember the last time I ate there, but I do know it’s the fast food joint I’ve visited most recently (recently not meaning actually recent, in this case). As we all know, they have multiple vegetarian options and even a few for vegans who find themselves stuck on an interstate or in a food desert with few or no other options.

When I was vegetarian and still transitioning to the awesome vegan person that I am today, the Crispy Potato Soft Taco was my junk food of choice. Perhaps some of you remember it from your own pregan days; crisp, bite-sized potatoes covered in cheese and lettuce, smothered in a spicy cream sauce.

I have no idea what reminded me of those tacos. Maybe I drove by a Taco Bell and my subconscious remembered. Maybe my arteries were like “Hey, why don’t you clog us anymore?”. Either way, I was motivated to recreate those old friends of mine, and so I present to you: The VEGAN Crispy Potato Soft Taco!

The potatoes are crisp (it would be false advertising in they weren’t!) and flavorful, but not spicy. The small amount of heat comes from the adobo cashew cream sauce (recipe below), and if you want to add more heat, this is where you should do it. The slivers of crispy lettuce are my nod to vegetables, and they add a beautiful splash of color. The real stars of the show, though, are the potatoes.

Once again I’m hitting you with a specialty salt: This time it’s Spanish Rosemary. Instead of saying something goes together “like peas and carrots”, it should be “like roasted potatoes and spanish rosemary sea salt.” Honestly, I will never again eat roasted potatoes in any dish unless they have this salt on them, it’s that good!

Vegan Crispy Potato Soft Taco (Inspired by Taco Bell)

Crispy Potato Soft Tacos (Makes 4 Soft Tacos)

Ingredients:

  • 1 med-large potato, cubed into small bite-sized pieces (you want to be able to fit 2-3 into your mouth at once)
  • Olive oil
  • Spanish Rosemary sea salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 t Dried parsley
  • 15 cashews
  • 1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce (canned)
  • 1 t cumin
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 T non-dairy creamer
  • 1/2 t sea salt
  • The juice of 1/2 a lime
  • Crispy lettuce, shredded
  • 4 soft taco shells
  • Cilantro for sprinkling, if desired

Directions:

  1. Spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and dried parsley. Bake at 350 until crispy (about 25 minutes, stirring once). Broil for the last minute if they need more of a crispy layer.
  2. In a blender, combine everything else (except the lettuce, shells and cilantro). Blend until smooth.
  3. To assemble the tacos, layer 1/4 of the potatoes, shredded lettuce and a heavy drizzle of the adobo cashew cream sauce, then sprinkle with cilantro.

Enjoy!

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Chipotle and Sweet Potato Chowder

Vegan Chipotle Sweet Potato Chowder

Chipotle Sweet Potato Chowder

So yes, if you’ve been paying attention, I am on a bit of a sweet potato/chipotle in adobo sauce roll… but why not? It’s GOOD!

I made this a few weekends back, when our friends Reia and Robert came over for dinner.  Robert and Jason have been friends since they were cute little teenage boys running around the mean streets of Belen, NM. I’d go so far as to call them BFFs, but they’re much too manly for such a girly acronym, so we’ll just call them “pals”. Anyway, since I was feeding two men with red chile where the rest of us have blood, I knew I had to come with something good. Something with heat.

But not so hot us girls wouldn’t enjoy it.

Enter this chowder. I found a recipe on Pinterest (of course) and quickly veganized it. While I was chopping and cooking, Reia sat at the counter and interviewed me for a paper she’s writing. About moi. Aren’t I fancy and important? (Yes.)

But before I get to the recipe, let’s talk salt. In particular, I want to chat with you about Yakima Smoked Applewood Sea Salt. We’ve all seen recipes that called for a highly specific salt (or other seasoning) that we didn’t happen to have on hand, and just subbed it. Or skipped it all together. Don’t do that this time. I beg of you, go buy some of this salt. It’s amazing, and I use mine all the time. It comes in especially hand when I’m veganizing a recipe that called for bacon (like this chowder), or really in any dish that you want to taste “smoky”. My mom bought a big vat of it for me last summer, at a farmers market stand.  If you can’t find any at your local store, go online. If you ever enjoyed bacon in your pre-gan days, you wont regret buying this salt.

The thing about this chowder is that it’s Hot, Smoky and (a little) sweet. You really want all 3 flavors to make it work. The chipotles make it hot, and the adobo sauce adds the smoky. The hint of sweetness comes from the potatoes of course, along with the sweet onions and peppers.

Chipotle & Sweet Potato Chowder (Serves 6 hungry people)

Adapted from non-vegan/vegetarian recipe

This soup is delicious as a leftover, just keep in mind that as it sits in your fridge it does begin to take on color from the sweet potatoes :)   If this happens and you’re not please, just add some fresh non-dairy milk, to adjust the color.

Ingredients:

  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 1 green bell pepper diced
  • 1 medium vidalia onion, diced
  • 5 cups vegetable broth (you could do half broth/half water if you need to)
  • 3 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
  • 3-4 chipotles in adobo sauce, diced as small as you can get them (or fewer if you don’t like heat)
  • 28 ounce bag frozen corn (no need to defrost)
  • 2 cups non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious coconut milk)
  • Smoked Applewood sea salt
  • Vegan bacon bits

Directions:

  1. Water saute peppers and onions until tender, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the broth (and/or water), sweet potatoes, and chipotles. I’d recommend starting with 3 peppers, and waiting to taste the chowder once it’s warm before adding the 4th, unless you’re dedicated to the heat! Simmer uncovered until the taters are tender.
  3. Add the corn and milk and about 1/2 a teaspoon of the sea salt. Stir until warmed through, then give it another taste. I went ahead and added quite a bit more of the smoked sea salt, as well as some more chipotle. Sprinkle the individual servings with bacon bits, if desired.

Enjoy!

Vegan Chipotle Sweet Potato Chowder

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Smoky-Sweet Chickpea Burgers with Adobo

Vegan smokey-sweet chickpea burger with adobo

Smoky-Sweet Chickpea Burger with Adobo

I’ve been really into the smokey adobo flavor lately, so a few weekends ago when I set out to make a batch of my spicy chickpea burgers I decided to change things up a bit. I kept the chickpeas because they really do make the best veggie burgers, in  my humble opinion, but I added sweet potato along with a couple chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (and a few teaspoons of the the sauce for good measure). I also threw in some leftover quinoa I had in the fridge.

The result? A spectaculatory burger, if I do say so myself.  The heat and smokiness from the adobo chipotles is a totally different type of “spicy” than you get with other peppers or seasonings. It’s almost rich. The sweetness of the potatoes offsets it in a way that ensures it’s not too hot. This burger is perfect for people (like me) who want to get their spicy on, but still be able to enjoy the flavor. This burger is not for those people who put ghost peppers on their oatmeal, if you catch my drift. That said, my husband is the King of Hot (in more ways than one ;) ) and he was totally digging these. He started snacking on them in bits n’ pieces while I was still baking them and said “Hey, these have a little bite!”. He was happy to have them for dinner too- a sure sign of approval.

Vegan smokey-sweet chickpea burger with adobo

The sweet potatoes made the mixture a bit more moist than I’m used to, but that was quickly offset with a few extra shakes of bread crumbs. Easy peasy. They’re still on the soft side (I guess that’s just what happens with sweet taters!), but super delicious. I actually made a double batch and froze the extras- I like to break them up into bits throughout the week on my lunch salads.If you haven’t tried that, I highly recommend you do- with whatever veggie burger is your favorite. It adds a different texture and whole new flavor profile to salads, really perks them up. And makes it feel less like you’re “just easting a salad”, you know? Plus it’s healthier than croutons or some of those other salad add-ons you can buy at the store.

Smoky-Sweet Chickpea Burgers (5-6 patties, depending on size )

These make a pretty soft burger, so if you want yours firmed up a little you could add more breadcrumbs and/or bake it a little longer (I think they’re wonderful as-is!).

Ingredients:

  • 1 small-medium sweet potato, diced
  • 1/2 a large onion, roughly chopped (I used red, sweet would also be good)
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (red or white is fine, but red is prettiest)
  • 2-3 chiptles in adobo sauce, or more if you want more heat
  • 2 t of the adobo sauce from the can
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs (plus more to achieve perfect consistency)

Directions:

  1. Bake or microwave sweet potato until soft-ish.
  2. Place potatoes and onions in food processor and give a couple of whirls- leave a few small chunks, but not many.
  3. Add the chickpeas and give it another whirl. DON’T OVERDO IT! You want to leave lots of bean chunks, otherwise your burgers will come out too soft.
  4. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in quinoa,chopped chilies and the sauce and the bread crumbs and mix it all up.
  5. Let the entire mixture hang out in the fridge for 30 minute (or longer, that’s fine too), then check the consistency. If’ it’s too soft, don’t be afraid to add more bread crumbs!
  6. Form your patties and bake at 375 on a foil-lined pan for about 30 minutes, 15 on each side. Check to see if they’re done- they might need a few more minutes depending on how moist your mixture was. You can finish them under the broiler to get a little more char if you like.

Enjoy!

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Tex-Mex Chinese Pie

Tex-Mex Chinese Pie

Tex-Mex Chinese Pie

Did you know that what most of the country (world?) calls Shepherd’s Pie actually goes by the name Chinese Pie in parts of New England? It’s true!  There are some differences (peas and carrots vs. corn for example), but they’re very similar dishes. There’s a whole story about how Chinese railroad workers back in the day cooked it for their fellow workers, who then brought the recipe home with them to NE and Quebec. I grew up calling it Chinese Pie, but when I say that around here no one knows what I’m talking about.  And no, I don’t ever serve it with pickled beets  :)

I’m not sure if those Chinese railroad workers or French Canadians ever imagined giving their pate chinois a south-of-the-border flair like this, but I sure hope you like it. In the past I’ve made this with a vegan “meat crumble” substitute, but for 2012 I’m going to try and cut out more of the processed stuff. Not that I’m going cold-turkey on the Daiya or anything crazy like that! It’s just that I’ve been wearing a %^*#ing walking boot for much of the holiday season, and all the goodies and nog plus the inability to get any exercise are taking their toll.  Hence my desire to cut back a little. And besides, we could all use a little less “processed” in our lives, right?

So rather than a layer of hamburger (or boca crumbles!) and a layer of corn we have a nice jumble of beans and corn (along with their friends tomatoes, green chilies and onions), and the mashed taters have some wonderful (hot!) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce mixed in. Oh, and a layer of mexi-bread crumbs adds some crunch at the very top! This is a very hearty, “stick to your ribs” type of meal, great for a cold winter’s night.

Tex Mex Chinese Pie (6-8 servings)

This recipe will fill up a 3 qt baking dish. If you want to make the beans/corn mix ahead of time just add 30 minutes of baking time (covered with foil). And you should definitely feel free to prepare the mashed potatoes as you normally do, using as much EB and milk as you like. I just included my own measurements as a suggestion.

Ingredients:

  • 5 medium/large potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or diced
  • Oil or water, for sauteeing
  • 1 14 oz can black beans, rinsed
  • 1 14 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed
  • 1 packet ‘vegetarian chili’ seasoning mix
  • 14 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 4-5 T Earth Balance (amount based on preference)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup non-dairy milk (amount based on preference)
  • 2 good sized chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped as small as you can get them.
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 t chili powder
  • 1/2 t paprika
  • 1 T crushed red pepper

Directions:

  1. Heat over to 350 degrees
  2. Put your potatoes on to boil, and let them cook until they’re nice and mooshy. We want a smooth mash for this, no lumps!
  3. In a large skillet or pot, sautee the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes, until they start to get soft.
  4. Add both cans of beans, seasoning mix, tomatoes/chilies and water to the skillet and mix all together. Let them simmer until it thickens.
  5. When your taters are done cooking, drain and mash with the EB and non-dairy milk. Once they’re nice and smooth, add the chipotle peppers.
  6. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the remaining spices.
  7. Pour the bean/corn mixture into the bottom of your baking dish, the gently spread the mashed potatoes over the top, making sure to get full coverage.
  8. Top with the bread crumb mixture.
  9. If your bean/corn mixture and your potatoes are still warm, bake (uncovered) for about 20 minutes, then move to the top of the oven and broil for 2-3 minutes, so the top gets nice and browned. If you made any of the components earlier and they need to be reheated,  add about 30 minutes of covered backing before removing the foil.

Enjoy!

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