Poirot and burritos.

Got off early so I came home and made rice, cheesy beans, sautéed chipotle tofu and corn salsa to make burritos. Then I plopped myself in front of the tv to watch Poirot. This is the life!

Sauteed tofu with onions and lots of dry spices like chipotle powder, smoked paprika, granulated garlic, mesquite, cumin, salt pepper... and a dash of Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

Burrito bar. From L to R; Corn salsa, cheesy beans (refried beans with some vegan cheese mixed in), sauteed tofu, red rice (just rice cooked with onion, garlic, water and a can of El Pato tomato sauce).

Yum. 

Chipotle Tabasco is soooo good.

Monsieur Poirot using his little grey cells.

Mary McCartney's Corn Fritters.

I've been loving Mary's book "Food: Vegetarian Home Cooking" and as I've said before, her recipes are non-fussy and very relaxed which is how I also like to describe my cooking style. You can find the recipe for these beautiful corn fritters here. I veganized them by omitting the eggs and using almond milk and adding a little more almond milk to make the batter smooth. I also used Vegenaise instead of the yogurt for the sauce. I would have used Wildwood plain unsweetened soy yogurt but didn't have any on hand. The recipe comes together easy and I was able to make 12 delicious fritters.

After eating my fair share of fritters, I decided to relax with a tall frosty glass of cider. Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Bean Tostada and a Grain Bowl.

Today's lunch was a delicious tostada that had refried black beans, corn, sauteed garlic kale and potatoes and avocado.

I also prepared a grain bowl for my lunch tomorrow. Quinoa, spinach, sauteed tofu, yellow tomatoes, sweet potato, cranberries and miso tahini dressing.

Saturday Comfort Cookin'.

Nice to get back in the kitchen on the weekend instead of going out to eat all the time. Today I wanted comfort food so I made my standby. It's my quinoa-black bean tortilla casserole, adapted from a stuffed pepper recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine. It has layers of flour tortillas, quinoa, black beans, veggies and spicy tomato sauce with a creamy vegan mayonnaise topping. I love this thing and could probably eat the whole pan by myself. CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE. You can be creative and add any kinds of veggies you want. Today I used red bell pepper, corn and zucchini.

Along with the casserole, I made sweet corn cake which is a recipe I got from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen cookbook.

All together now. After a few shots of Tapatio, I was ready to dig in.

I also made banana bread because of some overripe bananas I had lingering in my kitchen. Who doesn't like banana bread?

I took a break from guitar practice to have a cup o' tea and a slice. So good!

Seedy Corn-Tomato-Avocado Salad

Got this recipe from my coworker who got it from a book called Going Raw. This was such a good salad with the creaminess from the avocado, the juicy tomatoes, zesty lime juice and crunchy pumpkin seeds. I also ate this on top of whole grain wasa crackers. Was so good!

Refried Bean Tacos with Chipotle Corn Salsa

Made a big pot of refried beans today from scratch. They are unbelievable! I don't like to buy refried beans in a can anymore. I used the beans to make tacos with corn tortillas, Daiya vegan cheese and a chipotle corn salsa. I also added a spicy habanero hot sauce that set my mouth on fire!

Chipotle Corn Salsa

1 14oz. can golden corn (no sugar added), drained or use frozen thawed corn
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne
juice of a small lime
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley or cilantro (I used dried parsley because that's all I had)

Mix all together and chill until ready to use.

Heinz Beans!

We always have this kind of dinner when I don't feel like cooking. I popped a couple of cans of Heinz Beans (made in England!) heated them up and served them alongside a baked potato, salad and corn on the cob. Yummay!

VeganMoFo: Posole Stew with Squash, Collards and Pinto Beans

I just got this really interesting book called 'The Power of Ancient Foods' and along with recipes, it tours the regions of the world and discusses the various foods of ancient civilizations and how the nutrients and healing properties in these foods kept ancient peoples free from diseases and conditions which affect us today. It's not new that beans, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables are the keys to a healthy life but unfortunately the majority of the world today relies on cheap convenience foods and chemical laden "frankenstein" foods that don't offer any nutritional benefits.

So anyway, I just got through reading about the ancient foods of South America, Central America, Mexico and Southwestern United States. Some of the foods discussed: peppers, chiles, corn, beans, quinoa, amaranth, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, cocoa, pumpkins and squashes. What a delicious variety of foods! I was inspired by one of the recipes for "Posole and Winter Squash Stew with Red Chile". What luck that I happened to have a can of hominy in my pantry. I had some beautiful zucchini so I decided to use those instead of the butternut squash. I also added peppers, jalapenos, pinto beans and collard greens. The stew is flavored with onions, cumin, oregano, garlic and New Mexico chili powder. I'll be having this for dinner tonight after work with a side of hot whole wheat flour tortillas. I tasted a bit and it's fantastic, a bit spicy and full of powerful foods!

Recipe

2 TB olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 a red bell pepper, chopped
1 TB jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 TB New Mexico chili powder
1 28oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed (You can cut this in half if you want!)
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
pinch of sugar
3 cups water
1 14oz. can pinto beans
2 leaves of collard greens, chopped
chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime

Saute oil, onion, garlic, red bell pepper, jalapeno and zucchini in a soup pot over medium heat until it starts to brown. Lower heat and add the cumin, oregano, chili powder and some salt and pepper. Stir around a bit and then add the tomato sauce, hominy, collards, sugar, beans and 3 cups of water. Simmer until veggies are tender about 20 minutes. Add more water if stew is too thick. Taste for salt. Garnish with cilantro and lime juice.