Tex-Mex Casserole - vegan & gluten free

If you've been following along for a while, you may have picked up that a) I admit to being lazy fairly often b) my recipes are generally low-fuss and c) the ingredient lists aren't usually terribly long.

At first glance, this recipe may appear not to fit into any of the above categories. That first glance would be wrong. It takes about 20 minutes to put together from beginning to oven, and while there are more ingredients than I usually list, the whole thing is pretty easy and very satisfying. I suspect that you have most (if not all) of the ingredients in your pantry already. This was the first meal I made when we got back from vacation, and the fridge was pretty bare. I didn't even have all the ingredients the first time I made it, and it was still delicious.

To streamline it further, make the rice in advance. I like making it in the morning. The rice cooks while I putz around and eat breakfast, so it's all set at night. If you're one of those big batch cooks, make a batch of rice and freeze it in portions. Then just defrost what you need.

This is one of those recipes you can scale up or down, and it's going to satisfy not only lots of dietary restrictions, but it's going to satisfy vegans and omnivores alike.


Tex-Mex Casserole - vegan & gluten free
adapted from Oh She Glows

Don't have ingredient or two? Don't sweat it. Unless it's something major like rice, beans, or tomatoes, you can probably skip it. Want it spicier? Add another jalapeno. Don't like spice? Don't use a jalapeno. Have some frozen edamame taking up space in your freezer? It can definitely go in with the corn (or in place of it). You can halve the recipe and bake it in a smaller pan. If you double it, you'll need to use a second large pan. 

for the spice blend
1 Tbsp (150mL) chili powder
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) ground cumin
1 tsp (5 mL) smoked sweet paprika or 1/2 tsp (2 mL) regular paprika
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cayenne pepper, plus more as needed
1 1/4 tsp (6 mL) fine-grain sea salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground coriander (optional)

for the casserole
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bell peppers, ideally two different colors, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded if desired, and diced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C (125 mL) fresh or frozen corn
1 14oz/397g can diced tomatoes (with their juices)
1 C (250 mL) tomato sauce or tomato puree
2 to 3 C (500 to 700 mL) chopped kale leaves or baby spinach
1 15oz.425g can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 C (750 mL) cooked rice (wild, brown, or white - your choice)
1/2 C (125 mL) vegan shredded cheese, such as Daiya (optional)
1 to 2 handfuls tortilla chips, crushed (gf for gluten free folks)

optional topping ideas
green onions, salsa, avocado, additional cheese, fresh chopped cilantro, vegan sour cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F. Oil a large baking pan.

In a small bowl combine all the spices for the blend. Set aside.

In a large wok, pot, or Dutch oven (when I halved the recipe, I was able to use a large sauce pan), heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell peppers, and jalapeno. Saute until starting to soften (approx 5-7 minutes). Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in spice blend, corn diced tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce, kale or spinach, beans, rice, and 1/4 cup (60 mL) of the vegan shredded cheese (if using). Saute for a few minutes and season with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and smooth the top. Sprinkle the crushed chips and then the remaining cheese (if using) evenly over the mixture. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Uncover the baking dish and cook for another 5-10 minutes or so, until bubbly and lightly golden around the edges.

Serve and top, as desired.

Spinach and Tomato Quiche - vegetarian & dairy free, or not

There are days when you want to do something fancy and there are days when you get take out and there are days when you just want to get a dinner on the table that didn't come from a box. This is one of the latter. It's like my risotto, baked barley, red pepper sauce, and pot pie in that the recipe invites you to make it yours.

Spinach Paella with Lemon - vegan & gluten free

Some of you lovely people who took my survey last month indicated that you wanted to see more savory dishes. Apparently you also have trouble answering the age old question, "What's for dinner?" You may have noticed this month that there have been more non-dessert recipes appearing here, like chili, pasta, a snack, and a salad. 

I have also done some revamping of the recipe index, and I've gone back through my old posts checking and updating tags. The big addition to the index is at the very bottom, where, if none of the titles caught your fancy, you can browse by tag. I have you all hooked up to view recipes by diet, dish, event, or season. So, for example, you can look at all recipes I've tagged as dairy free, or breakfast, or birthday, or winter. Have a look and tell me what you think. I love comments or emails and always respond!

I have found that I've enjoyed the challenge! It's been fun to try out new recipes, and it's helped diversify dinner for me and Mr. Official Taster. This paella recipe is both easy and delicious. There's also some downtime involved (i.e. when it's in the oven), which I used to panic because I didn't have an idea for a side and then give up and decide we didn't really need one. Salads are my go-to side, but since there was already spinach involved, I was stymied. Clearly, I need to branch out. Good thing there are still a few cupcakes.

Spinach Paella with Lemon - vegan & gluten free
adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

This worked well as our main course, but it would also work as a side. If you're having a meat dish for dinner, the rich and smokey flavor means it can hold its own. 
As written, this recipe served two of us for dinner. Simply double to make 4-6 servings.

1 C brown rice*
2 C vegetable stock or water
Approx. 1/2 lb fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Minced zest of 1 lemon
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp tomato paste
Large pinch saffron threads (optional)
1 tsp smoked or other paprika
Minced parsley for garnish

In a small pot, bring several cups of salted water to a boil. Stir in the brown rice. The water should return to a boil almost immediately, and turn the heat down so that the rice is boiling along nicely. Don't stir the rice again, and leave it to cook for 12ish minutes. Pour off the water and reserve the rice. You can do this step up to an hour before you're ready to make the paella- it doesn't matter if the rice is warm when you add it.

Preheat the oven to 450F. Warm the stock in a pan. Toss the spinach in a bowl with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, lemon zest, and salt+pepper.

Warm about 2 Tbsp olive oil in an oven-proof 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Depending on your stove, you may need to turn the heat down to medium so things don't brown or cook too fast. Stir in the tomato paste, saffron if you're using it, and paprika and cook for another minute or two. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's shiny. (I know this sounds strange, but it really does get shiny, trust me). Pour in the warm stock, turn off the heat, and stir until just combined.

Put the spinach on top of the mixture (it's supposed to be fluffy. It will cook down) and scrape out the bottom of the bowl (you wouldn't want to miss any zest!). Put the pan in the oven, uncovered, and roast for 15 minutes. Check to see if the rice is dry and just tender. If yours is still somewhat wet like mine has been, cook for another 5 minutes. If it's dry but the rice is uncooked, add a small amount of stock, wine, or water. When the rice is ready, turn off the oven and let it sit for at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes.

Carefully (it's very hot! and heavy!) remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. If you like, put the pan over high heat on the stove for a few minutes to develop a bit of a bottom crust before serving.

*You can, of course, use white rice. If you do, you can skip the precooking step and add it directly to the pan.

Avocado, Blood Orange & Spinach Salad - vegan & gluten free

If you are anything like most Americans, you ate yourself silly on Sunday. I sure did. It was in the name of family and football, so it doesn't count. right? I do feel slightly more ok about it because we didn't snack on chips and whatnot all afternoon. We just had really good deep dish pizza, salad, and dessert. I just ate some a lot of everything. 

So if you're feeling like you overindulged, this salad is the perfect antidote, and it's nice and seasonal. ish. I know avocados have been on sale in grocery stores, and winter = citrus fruit time. It's light and refreshing, and is good on it's own as a light lunch or as a side to something heartier, like chili. You may or may not have helpers when you prepare it, but I'm confident you'll have help eating it.

Avocado, Blood Orange & Spinach Salad - vegan & gluten free
These amounts are just what I used to make myself a lunch salad. Obviously, adjust as needed. To dress, I sprinkled some sea salt over the avocados and drizzled a little avocado oil over the salad. Because of the juicy oranges and the creamy avocados, I don't think it needs too much extra.

a couple handfuls of spinach, or other greens
1/2 an avocado, skin and pit removed, sliced
1/2 a blood orange or other citrus fruit, divided into segments*
sea salt and avocado oil to dress (optional)

Arrange spinach on a plate. Add avocado slices and orange pieces. Sprinkle salt on avocados and drizzle avocado oil over the whole thing. Enjoy!

*Any citrus fruit you'd like will work here - oranges, grapefruits, tangelos, etc. Also, for pictures, I got the blood orange segments out of their membranes because they are so much prettier that way. However, when I make it just to eat? The membranes stay on because I think it's a pain to take them off.

Red Bean Chili - vegan & gluten free

It's the season for hibernating around here. It's the season when we bundle up - I wear a minimum of 3 layers these days - and wear galoshes with knee socks. It's the season when it's dark when we wake up and dark by tea time. It's the season when couch blankets are always in use.

It's also the season when I want to cook and bake and store my concoctions for winter. You know, in case of Snowpocalypse 2012. I've got a freezer with shelves of homemade tomato sauce and gnocchi and pumpkin bread. So chili is a logical step to me. It's warm, comforting, freezable, and stick-to-your-ribs.

This recipe turned out really well. It sounds like a lot of chili powder, and it is, but it's not spicy, unless you choose hot chili powder. The chili+cocoa add depth and the vinegar takes away some of the sweetness of the tomatoes.

Red Bean Chili - vegan & gluten free
adapted from Smitten Kitchen and my mom

1 or 2 large onions, diced
6 or so cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (most recipes don't say to do this, but my mom does. so I do)
2 cans light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes
1/3 C chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1-2 tsp salt, to taste
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 C frozen corn
1 C chopped frozen spinach

In a large dutch oven or other heavy pan, cook chopped onion in a small amount of olive oil over medium heat until the onion starts to become translucent (approx. 5 min). Stir periodically. Add minced garlic, and cook another minute or two. Stir a few times. Stir in beans, tomatoes, spices, cocoa, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to let it simmer.

At this point, add in the corn and spinach if using (I know spinach isn't very chili-y, but it's good for you and whatnot), and bring the whole thing to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Even better would be to simmer it for about 1 1/4 hours until it reaches a desired consistency, stirring occasionally. If it is too thin, take off the lid for a while to allow evaporation.

It always tastes better the next day, so if you cook it the day you eat it, let it sit for a few hours and reheat it; the chili will be better than right out of the pot.

Serve over rice, potatoes, squash, or right in a bowl. Top with shredded cheese, diced onion, sour cream, jalapeno, salsa, etc. to dress it up. A green salad is a good accompaniment, as is good bread or cornbread.

Freezer Burritos - vegan & gluten free

Here's a secret: Mr Official Taster and I are lazy. At the end of the day, cooking doesn't always sound awesome, and at the beginning of the day, well, let's just say neither of us is at our best. Procrastination is also sometimes involved.

So I'm hoping that the 24 burritos I made and froze today will help us avoid some unhealthy and unsatisfying choices in the future. You'll notice that the recipe below isn't really a recipe, but more of a set of guidelines. That's because exact amount and specific ingredients are really not important here. It's more important that you use delicious ingredients that you love, herbs and spices for variety, and a nice blend of flavors. I made some burritos with egg, some without; some with peppers, some without; some with pesto, some without. You get the idea. There was only about 1 hour of time involved (not counting the rice cook time), so I think the payoff will be stellar.

Freezer Burritos
This is not so much of a recipe, and more of a general idea. fyi. Feel free to make it your own. I got inspiration from here and here.

Gather your materials:
Cook some rice. I used about 1 Cup uncooked rice, 1 can of tomatoes, 1 diced onion, and 1 clove garlic. Any kind of tomatoes should work. I used whole and them chopped them up myself, but you can also just get a can of diced. I also used a bit less water than normal because the tomatoes have liquid. As far as I know, rice is pretty forgiving. As long as you have enough liquid, don't overcook it and dry it out, you can't mess it up (i.e. it's hard to have too much liquid).

Drain and rinse a can of beans. I used black. You don't have to rinse them, but my mom always says they taste better that way.

Shred (or buy pre-shredded) any cheese. Chop veggies. If you're using eggs, scramble them. Get any other toppings - potatoes, sour cream, salsa, green onion, spinach, pesto - together and ready for assembly.

Wrap a stack of flour tortillas (I don't see why you can't use gluten free wraps here) in a damp dishcloth and microwave for a minute. This helps make them pliable and not rip when you roll the burritos. While they are microwaving, rip pieces of aluminum foil off the roll and put them in a pile. You can assemble each burrito directly on top of each piece.

Make the burritos:
Place one warm tortilla on the top of your pile of aluminum foil and re-cover the stack of tortillas with the damp towel. Add your ingredients of choice. Tightly roll the burrito, and then roll it in the foil. You can label and date them with a sharpie.

Freeze them!
When you're ready to eat them, unwrap them from the foil, rewrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave 2-3 minutes on high. You can also bake them for 40 minutes at 450F, remove foil, and bake for another 10 minutes. OR you can let it/them thaw, and bake for 350F for 10 minutes.

Rainbow Salad - vegan & gluten free

Once in a (very great) while, it truly feels like summer here in the Pacific Northwest. On those days, I move away from pastas and risottos and towards light, fresh, and cool summer suppers. A big salad fits that description perfectly, but to elevate plain old salad, I decided to go for a rainbow (sensing a theme?). Plus, it's said that eating by color is a healthy way to go.

That, and rainbows make everything more fun.

Rainbow Salad
spinach, or other salad greens
pomegranate seeds
dried cranberries
tomatoes, chopped
carrots, chopped
orange or yellow pepper, chopped
cored avocado, chopped
extra firm tofu, drained and fried

Start with a bed of spinach and then simply arrange your fruits and veggies in rainbow order and top with your favorite dressing.

There's lots and lots of possible variations here...beans come in lots of colors, as do peppers and tomatoes. If you like blueberries (I don't) then you can work in blue, and beets, eggplant, cabbage, or onions can be your purple. Hard boiled eggs can also fill the yellow slot, and nuts would be a nice addition as well.

Pesto! Pesto! Pesto!

I hope you have an abundance of herbs right about now. It's that time of year, and so I put my basil to their most delicious use - pesto! It's very easy to make, freezable, and a great reminder of summer in February. I froze mine in an ice cube tray. That way, I can enjoy it in the exact portion I need. It didn't come out as cleanly as I wanted, so next time I'll try spraying the tray with cooking spray. Pine nuts are pretty pricey, so you can substitute walnuts or cashews. I hear spinach is good for you, so I added a couple handfuls. I can't taste, smell, or see a difference from other batches of pesto I've made. If you don't want to use spinach, though, just use more basil. Looking for a dairy free version? Just omit the cheese.

If you're anything like me, after you scrape the bowl clean with a spoon, you'll rip up a piece of bread to get the last drops.

Pesto
4 oz Romano or Parmesan cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 garlic cloves
2 C tightly packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 C fresh baby spinach
1/3 C pine nuts
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 C olive oil

Using the metal blade of your food processor or blender, chop cheese and garlic. Add remaining ingredients, except olive oil, and process until combined, about 8 pulses. With the machine running, pour oil through feed tube. Process until combined. Scrape bowl and continue processing until smooth.