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.

Matt’s cousin, Amy, came over for dinner last night. She had been dying to try the lentil tacos (and a recent convert to a vegan diet), so that’s what we had. I also made some tofu ranchero so that we could have lots of leftovers to have another night this week. I also made my own refried beans, which turned out a little on the dry side, but still really tasty.

For the beans, I used 1 medium onion and 1 large jalapeño satueed in about 2 TB of olive oil until they were super soft. I then added about 3 cups of cooked pinto beans and I smashed them up with a potato masher. A little S&P and I was done! I topped them with a bit of chopped cilantro just to give them an extra bit of flavor. As I said, they were slightly dry and I think next time I will add in a bit of veg stock to fix that. Other than that, they were incredibly yummy, and not spicy at all.

When Matt and I lived in San Francisco, there was a taqueria around the corner from our apartment that offered tofu rachero as a burrito or taco filler. I was scared to try it at first, but I’m glad I eventually came to my senses because it’s AWESOME! I did a search on the internet for a ranchero sauce recipe and came up with this one that has served me well for the last few years. Since I don’t follow it exactly, here is my version of it:

Tofu Rachero

1 T olive oil

1 jalapeno, diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 package of extra firm tofu, chopped into cubes

S&P

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add olive oil, jalapeno, celery, onion, bell peppers and garlic. Saute about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes and puree using a blender or hand blender. Save half of the sauce for another time. Add tofu to the remaining half and continue to simmer for as long as possible. (One batch of sauce makes too much sauce for one package of tofu, so I usually make a full batch and freeze half for another time). The longer you can let the tofu simmer in the sauce, the better. I will sometimes make the sauce on the stove and then transfer everything to my slow cooker to let it simmer all day. So delicious!

For dessert, I pulled out some cupcakes that I had in my freezer that were leftover from Emma’s birthday. As I was flipped through Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I came across the photo of the cookies ‘n cream cupcake. It’s just a plain vanilla frosting with some Newman O’s crunched in… mmmmmm!!!

For dinner last night, I made the lentil taco filling, except that I used half the amount of lentils (1/2 cup) and water (1 1/3) cups.  All other measurements remained the same.  After the lentils were done cooking, I stirred in one can of pinto beans.  Since we were fresh out of traditional taco toppers- i.e. tomatoes, lettuce, avocado- and I had a head of cabbage to use up, I made up a cabbage and roasted corn salad to go on top.  It was so good!  To make the salad, I took about a quarter of a head of green cabbage and sliced it very thin.  I juiced 2 limes over the cabbage and salted it and let that sit for about an hour at room temperature.  I then took some diced red onions and frozen corn kernals and broiled them, the same way that I do when I made the corn and black bean salsa.  I added the corn and onions to the cabbage and stirred in some jarred salsa and chopped cilantro.  Yummy!

I can’t take sole credit for this recipe, but I also can’t remember the name of the book that I got it from. I did change the recipe slightly, so I feel OK posting it:

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernals

1 small red onion, diced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 can of black beans

1 large tomato, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

S&P

Preheat your broiler and add the corn, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno to a baking tray. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and broil for several minutes (flipping as necessary), until the veggies have begun to char. Add the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and, when the veggies are done in the oven, add them to the bowl too. Give it a stir and taste for seasoning, adding more lime, salt or pepper, if necessary.

We had this last night wrapped in a corn tortilla. It was really good, although, I had to substitute a few tablespoons jarred salsa for the tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapeno. This is so good, in fact, that we are planning to serve it at Emma’s birthday party with some chips for dipping! It’s totally a crowd pleaser and it can be prepared a day or so in advance.