My freezer is back to it’s normal state of chaos following my purge a few months ago.  *sigh* It was nice while it lasted– the organization and order, that is.  Anyway, I had a container of ranchero sauce in there that fell out pretty much every time I opened the door, so I took this as the universe telling me it was time for tofu ranchero again.  How can I say no?  We love this stuff!

And that’s what we had.

While in Sacramento this past couple of days, we thew my Nana an 83rd birthday party (her actual birthday is today)!  She has a milk allergy and is forced to avoid dairy products, so I whipped up a tasty vegan meal for her.  For dinner, we had a nice big salad and lentil tacos, which everyone loved despite being skeptical about the idea of vegan tacos.  I have a few changes that are called for in the original recipe, so I’m going to post it here because people have told me that following the recipe makes their taco filling not turn out right.

Lentil Tacos

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1 onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup brown lentils, dry

1 tablespoon, plus 1 tsp chili powder (or more if you like ‘em spicy)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 cups water or vegetable broth

3 tablespoons dried black currants or raisins, minced

1 cup salsa, plus additional for topping

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onions, celery, and garlic in the olive oil for five minutes or until vegetables are soft. Stir in the lentils, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook for one minute. Add the water/broth and raisins. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Remove the lid and cook an additional 10 minutes (until lentils are thick), stirring often. Fold in the salsa.

These tacos are SO GOOD!  Everyone always loves them every time I make them.

For dessert, I made some Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with “cream cheese” frosting.  The inspiration for these was my Pumpkin Spice Muffins and a Pumpkin Roll recipe that my mom always made for the holidays when I was growing up.  A Pumpkin Roll is a pumpkin cake that gets baked in a sheet pan.  When cool, it is rolled up with cream cheese frosting smeared on the inside.  Although my mom’s recipe is definitely not vegan, I think a few easy substitutions could make it so.  I’ll post my veganized version of that recipe soon– but please be forewarned that I have not tried it, so I have no basis for judging how it will turn out.

Anyway, back to the “cupcapes” (as my Emma calls them).

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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1 cup pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup non-dairy milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners (or spray with cooking spray).

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, milk, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Sift in the dry ingredients and stir to combine, but do not overmix.  Fill the muffin cups about two-thirds fill and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, I used the cream cheese frosting recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Any cream cheese frosting recipe is easily veganized by subbing Tofutti BTCC (the non-hydrogenated version) and non-hydrogenated vegan margarine.

These were so moist and delicious!  Everyone loved these too, so I guess my vegan dinner was a success!

We had these burritos the other night for dinner- mainly because I found some filling buried in my freezer.

Even though I made up this recipe as a way to sneak more veggies into the kiddo, I find that I enjoy them probably more than she does.  I love the fact that they have cauliflower and kale in them– 2 veggies that are a good source of dietary fiber and protein.  I also love that Emma will eat a few bites without too many protests.

I like mine smothered with Tofutti BTSC and salsa.  Yum!

Oh, how I love tofu ranchero!  We had these for dinner last night and they were AWESOME!  Even more awesome is the fact that Emma can’t get enough of it.  She ate two helpings of the tofu last night for dinner, some today at lunch, and some more at dinner.  She keeps asking for more.  It’s the best!

I was sooooo uninspired last night.  It was a warm day.  The house was hot and I was lazy.  I didn’t feel like cooking, but knew I had to or we’d end up eating a bunch of junk.  This is what I came up with (pardon the terrible photos).

Veggie fajitas on a bed of refried black beans topped with Tofutti BTSC and salsa.  For the fajitas, I used onions, red and green bells, carrots, kale and a yukon gold potato.  They turned out so good that we only have a little left over.  I suppose you could wrap them up in a tortilla and eat them the way they are supposed to be eaten, but I like digging in with a fork.

On the side we had some Mexican Quinoa.  I made it the exact same way I make Mexican Rice, except I subbed quinoa for the rice.  You will also need to reduce the amount of liquid– I used 1 cup of stock and 1/2 cup tomato puree and it turned out perfect.  This may be my new favorite way to eat quinoa.

From the freezer: a pack of corn tortillas and a bag of pinto beans.  Tacos it is!  I based this recipe on the Bean & Zucchini Tacos that I’ve made before, but instead of zucchini, I used some kale.  They turned out very yummy!

To go with our tacos, I made some coleslaw.  What do these two things have in common?  Well, nothing except they were things that I had on hand and needed to use up.  Both were good, even if somewhat disjointed.

This coleslaw recipe is based on one that I found in Eat More, Weigh Less.  I changed it a bit, so I think it’s safe to post the recipe here.

Vegan Coleslaw

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 green apple, grated

Dressing:

2 TB vegan mayo

1 TB dijon mustard

1 TB sugar

1 TB apple cider vinegar

S&P to taste

In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.  Add the cabbage and carrots and toss to combine.  If not using right away, cover and refrigerate until ready.  If using within an hour of making it, leave out at room temperature to give the cabbage time to wilt down.

I came across some poblano peppers at the store the other day and picked some up thinking I’d stuff them with something.  I was so tired yesterday evening that I had no energy to come up with anything new and creative, so I decided rice and beans would make a decent stuffing.  It didn’t require much thought and only a little bit of effort , which made it a winner in my book.

I also made a cheesy sauce to go on top thinking that might jazz it up a bit.  It’s no secret that I can’t stand nutritional yeast and every cheesy sauce I’ve made before has been too heavy on the yeast for my taste.  To me, nutritional yeast has a very fake cheesy taste (like Velveeta, but worse).  But, I’m not afraid to keep trying different recipes in the hopes that I’ll find one I like (or develop a taste for it).  I did some searching and came across this recipe.  This was the best cheesy sauce I’ve ever had, but I would still only classify it as just OK.  For those of you who have never had a vegan cheese sauce before, you will, in all likelihood, not like this at all.  Not that I’m trying to discourage anyone from trying a vegan cheese sauce; I’m just being honest.

To make these, I used sauteed some onions, red and green peppers, and garlic in a little bit of oil.  When they were tender, I added in some black beans, frozen corn, some jarred salsa, chopped cilantro and S&P to taste.  The rice is a Mexican rice recipe that I’ve been using for a while, only I subbed brown rice for white this time.  I’m not even totally sure where I got it, so I’ll post it here without crediting the original creator.  Sorry about that.

Vegan Mexican Rice

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T canola oil

1 cup rice (either brown or white)

1/2 cup tomato puree (any kind of pureed tomato product will do)

2 cups veggie stock

1/2 tsp salt

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the rice and cook until the rice is toasted.  Add the onions, peppers and garlic and cook until the veggies are tender.  Stir in the tomato puree, stock and salt.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat.  Cook for 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.  If you sub brown rice, you may need to add up to 2 additional cups of water.  I suggest making the recipe as is and adding water at the end, if needed.

Mix together the beans and some rice (you may not need all of it).  Stuff in the peppers and bake at 425 degrees until the peppers are soft.  If you are crunched for time, as I was, bake the peppers while you are preparing the stuffing.  Once the peppers are soft, stuff them then.

I made a slightly different version of my Hidden Treasure Burritos and it went over much better than the first.  Emma’s favorite beans are white (cannellini) and black.  Those are really the only beans she cares to eat, which is fine by me.  While I don’t think this recipe tastes much different than the first, the fact that it has both of her favorite beans in it makes it all the better.  It could also be because I left the potato out this time.  If it isn’t deep fried, Emma is not interested in eating any kind of potato at all, so that may have made the difference here.  I used what I had on hand, so feel free to do the same.  Peppers would work well, as would corn.  The spice and heat level are super mild, so don’t skimp on the spices.

Black & White Hidden Treasure Burritos

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cauliflower puree (*see note below)

1 cup chopped frozen kale (*see note below)

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp cumin (or to taste)

1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)

1/2 cup salsa

S&P to taste

In a large skillet, saute the onions and the garlic over medium low heat in a little bit of olive oil.  Cook for ten minutes, or until the onions are extremely tender (you don’t want to give the kids a reason not to like this, so be sure to cook all the crunch out of the onion).  Add the spices and toast for a minute.  Then add the cauliflower puree and the kale.  Stir to combine.  Add the beans, but mash up about half of the can of each variety as you add it to the pan.  I just smashed them with my hands, but you could use a potato masher.  Once the beans are in, stir in the salsa and taste for seasoning.

This recipe makes a great burrito or “quesadilla” filling.  Since the filling is mushy, I like to toast the tortilla in some fashion just to give it a different texture than the filling.

To Make the Cauliflower Puree:

Bring about 2 cups veggie stock or water to a boil in a medium pot. Add 1/2 head of cauliflower and let it cook through (takes about 10 minutes). When the cauliflower has become tender, transfer it to a food processor and puree. Save the cooking liquid, and add a little at a time to loosen up the cauliflower as you puree it. Remove puree from the food processor and set aside.  This freezes very well.

To Make the Chopped Frozen Kale:

Use your food processor to finely chop a bunch of kale (stems removed).  Put the kale into a pot of boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes.  Strain and lay out on a baking sheet.  Put the baking sheet in the freezer until the kale has frozen.  Once frozen, you can transfer it to a container without it sticking all together.

Last night’s dinner was super refreshing. We had corn and black bean salsa atop a crispy flour tortilla, a tostada of sorts. The best part about this meal was that it was perfect served cold (except for the tortilla, of course) and is a great meal to make when it’s too hot out to heat up the kitchen cooking. Earlier in the day, I charred all of the veggies under the broiler, threw them in with the beans, added some lime juice, S&P and cilantro and refrigerated until dinner time. Very, very easy!

Since corn is so plentiful (and inexpensive) this time of year, I used 2 ears of fresh corn instead of frozen. After shucking the corn, boil it for about 5 minutes. Then broil, allow to cool, and cut the kernels off the cob. It tasted pretty much the same as it does when I use frozen corn.

On the side, we had a yummy fruit salad. It was so pretty that I had to post a photo.

Pineapple, mango, grapes, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. All organic, except for the pineapple! Delicious!

Finally! A healthy kids recipe that I can share. The reason why I created the category “recipes kids will enjoy” is because I wanted to come up with and share more recipes like this one. Well, so far, it has more sweets in it than healthy foods so I’m happy to get it back on track.

This recipe is really good, but purposely kept very mild (aka bland) for the kiddos. If adults will be eating this too, I recommend a zesty salsa or guacamole for the top. Other than the lack of spice, they turned out very good. And just what are the “hidden treasures?” Well, these burritos are stuffed with cauliflower and kale, but no one would ever know unless you told them. Any mildly flavored vegetables will work here, so please feel free to switch them out. This recipe makes a lot of filling, but it is totally freezable to use on another day.

Hidden Treasure Burritos

1 small onion, diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/2 green bell pepper, diced (pretty small)

1 baby yukon gold potato, diced (small)

1 cup cauliflower puree (recipe follows)

1 cup cooked kale, finely chopped (recipe follows)

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

3 cups (or use 2 cans) beans, any kind

1/2 cup frozen corn kernals

5 or 6 dashes Tabasco, or to taste

1/2 cup salsa

S&P to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Bring about 2 cups veggie stock or water to a boil in a medium pot. Add 1/2 head of cauliflower and let it cook through (takes about 10 minutes). When the cauliflower has become tender, transfer it to a food processor and puree. Save the cooking liquid, and add a little at a time to loosen up the cauliflower as you puree it. Remove puree from the food processor and set aside. Be sure to rinse out the bowl of your food processor.

Return the pot to the stove and bring to a boil again. Add 3 large leaves of kale (stems removed) and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Transfer the kale to the food processor. Puree until the kale leaves have been chopped very small. Remove and set aside.

Add half of the beans to the food processor and puree them until they are pretty well mashed. Use the leftover cooking liquid from the cauliflower and kale to loosen it up if it becomes too thick to process.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and potato in about 2 TB of olive oil until tender. Add all of the rest of the ingredients a cook for a few minutes. If the mixture becomes too thick, thin out with the rest of the cauliflower/kale cooking liquid or with some water. Season to taste with S&P.

Spoon mixture into the center of a tortilla. Roll it up, tucking the sides in. Seal the edge with a little bit of canola oil and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the top is light golden.