A Sweet Potato Story?

Have you ever heard of a white sweet potato?  I had not until about a week ago.  I have a darling gardening neighbor who shared two samples of this phenomenon with my family.  As my hubby walked in with them, I blurted out "Oh, white sweet potatos"-as if I knew.  I really had no idea, I think I just deduced based on the shape and the color of them that they could be nothing else.  It turned out that I was right about what they were, but had no idea of the culinary mind trip that I was about to be taken on.  I scrubbed and baked the beauties and then when I sliced open the foil, I was at a lost.  Savory or sweet?  It smelled like a sweet potato, but looked and flaked like a yukon or a russet.  What to do but try it both ways?  Earth Balance save me!  For the first one, I used a pat of EB and a sprinkle of cane sugar and cinnamon.

This was really good, not quite the texture of a baked sweet potato, but when I closed my eyes, the flavor was perfect, maybe even better than an original.  I probably should have stopped there.  But I didn't, I had to see whether this baby could double as a savory side.  Another pat of EB (diet be darned), sea salt, and fresh black pepper.

For me, this was NOT the answer.  It looked so good and I was eager to dive into a sweet and salty bliss.  I was stopped mid plunge by this one.  I just couldn't wrap my head around the way the flavors did or didn't come together.  For the braver at heart, you may want to give it a try, I'm rooting for you.  On the other hand, my boxer Kapone and multi-poo Jersey loved it!

Cinnamon Rolls from Vegan Brunch



Vegan Brunch Cinnamon Rolls with a Vegan cream cheese glaze

I think everyone that knows anything about my vegan journey knows that I rely on the Post Punk Kitchen (The PPK), the PPK forum, the thousands of users there and vegan cookbooks, especially those by powerhouse Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  My vegan self is growing up with them.  A change has happened deep inside me that I can pass on to my family and anyone else who will listen to the possibilities.  This post is a long time coming.  A few weeks ago, I made cinnamon rolls from Isa's cookbook Vegan Brunch.  I only modified the glaze by adding Tofutti cream "cheese" and a little lemon juice.  Vegan Brunch is a beautiful book filled with pictures and indulgent recipes that will make any vegan or non-vegan stand up and pay attention.  I am thankful for the recipes that can feed my entire family on those special days that we can actually be home together and enjoy a late breakfast or brunch and each other.

My family truly enjoyed every bite of these and my daughter is already begging me to make them again.  They were a hit, not just because the recipe turned out great, but because every great vegan recipe that I can create helps my family live a step further into a cruelty free, healthier, greener life and I love that.

Enchi-sagna!!!!

So this is what happens when you have big ideas to make wonderful quick enchiladas, but your corn tortillas have gotten just to the "we're crumbling on the edges" stage.  I had been putting off making my enchiladas and kept tossing my package of 12 tortillas to the side in the refrigerator in exchange for quicker recipes.  When I finally decided, I have to use them before they go bad, it was too late for the roll up and I had to improvise.  I watched an episode of Rachel Ray once where she made taco-sagna, I think, and I decided to put my ingredients in layers and hope for the best.  It turned out wonderfully.  Definitely give it a try, so quick and good.  And though my omni husband nor daughter could say the name, both of them loved it, it was a great vegan triumph.

I coupled it with Terry Romero's Cilantro Lime Rice from Viva Vegan and a dollop of Tofutti Sour Supreme.

Ty's Enchisagna

12 corn tortillas
1 Package Daiya (cheddar style)
2 cups TVP (you could use crumbled tempeh or black beans also and skip the rehydration step and water)
2 2/3 cup water or vegetable broth
1/2 onion
1/2 green pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 Tbsp dark chili powder
1 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used Southwest Seasoning by the Pampered Chef)
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste
canola oil for sauteing and quick frying the tortillas
1 recipe warm vegan enchilada sauce ( I used this one) It made about 2 1/2 cups.

For the crumbles:

In a cast iron skillet (or your favorite frying pan), saute onions and green peppers in about 1 Tbsp. of oil until onions are translucent and just a little browned.  Add the cumin, oregano, chili powder, taco seasoning and cilantro and toast along with onions and peppers for about 2 minutes, add a splash more oil to keep the pan lubricated.  Add your water or broth to deglaze the pan and bring to a low boil. Add the soy sauce, salt and tvp.  Once the tvp has hydrated add the garlic and onion powders and salt to taste. Set aside your crumbles until cool enough to handle.

To assemble:

Preheat your oven to 375

Prepare a casserole dish (with a paper towel, lightly oil the inside).
Then, I take Terry Romero's method to heart.  Make an assembly line.  Use a pie plate for your enchilada sauce (keep some in the sauce pan to ladle in later) and a small skillet heated to medium high with enough oil to just cover the bottom.  Ladle about a 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish.

With tongs quickly (were talking 10 seconds each side tops) dip your tortillas into the hot skillet, flip to heat each side, they will become pliable.  Dip them into the pie plate of sauce and then arrange them on the bottom of the casserole dish (I could fit three and then a couple broken pieces from another to cover the holes.  Add a little more sauce to coat and then a layer of crumbles over the tortillas followed by a layer of Daiya cheese.  Go back to the tortilla layer and repeat ending with a third layer of  tortillas on top.  Top that final layer with your remaining sauce and Daiya.

Cover with foil and bake for about 30 min.  Remove foil and bake for 10 min. more.  Let rest and cut to serve.

Vegan Pho!!

It is no secret about me that pre-veg, I could have lived on Vietnamese pho.  I liked to eat it, smell it, say it. . . everything.  I have looked for a recipe online forever it seems, and then I saw that Meagan from Rhymes with Vegan had tackled it and I decided to finally give it a try.  I don't have a recipe here, because I truly took a hybrid of all the vegan recipes I could find online and then compared them to omni recipes online as well.  I made a version and technique that was easy for me and my pantry and I suggest you try it that way before going out and buying a long list of ingredients on any one recipe.  When I make it again, I promise to write it down, becuase I really loved this, really.  I used homemade thinly sliced seitan in my recipe.

 Cool noodles ready for seitan and broth.

 Thin slices of seitan over noodles.

 Hot broth poured over the noodles and seitan and sprinkled with green onions.

Finally dressed with bean sprouts, thai basil leaves, peppers, vegetarian hoisin sauce, hot and ready to eat.