Vegan Mofo Day 12 Spicy without heat! - Mexican Baked Mushrooms

Today's mofo prompt is "Spicy without chilies".

Mexican food is often made with chilies and yet for those who don't like heat 

Mexican food also had a lot of flavour.

Here I show you how to enjoy some Mexican flavours without adding any chili..... 

and for those of you who do like heat you can always add some chili in!

This is a meal idea without exact quantities stated. The reason I do this is because I always like to encourage people to get experimental in their kitchen and enjoy the cooking process. It a wonderful way to realise that creative meals don't have to be time consuming or difficult to make. Whenever I make meals like this I make a comment to my husband "It's not that hard to make quick, easy yet enjoyable vegan meals! Why do some restaurants find it so difficult!"


MEXICAN BAKED PORTOBELLO'S

                            You'll need:

                                   Large portobello mushrooms

                                   Cooked black beans

                                   Can or tub of diced tomatoes

                                   Mexican spice mix/taco mix or

                                       - paprika, cumin, coriander & oregano

                                   Avocado

                                   And a batch of my basic cheese sauce

Remove the stems from the mushrooms.
Place them in a microwave proof container with 1cm of water and heat for 2 mins. This helps to soften them and significantly reducing oven cooking time.

In a mixing bowl combine the black beans, tomatoes and spices.
Drain the water from the mushrooms and place them in an oven proof dish.
Fill the mushrooms generously with the black bean/tomato mixture and bake in a preheated 200°C oven for 15-20 minutes until mushrooms have cooked through and the black bean mixture is hot. 

Pour a freshly made batch of cheese sauce over the top of the mushrooms 

and serve with slices of fresh avocado.

I feel like this meal looks a little fancy and if I got served this 

at a restaurant I'd be more than happy! 

What do you reckon!!! Does it look fancy enough to be a restaurant meal?

Question of the day: 

What meals do you make at home that are a little bit fancy?

Kids Lunchbox Club - Quick Mexican Quinoa Salad

My daughter has decided that she quite loves quinoa! This is thanks to her testing out a Dreena Burton recipe. So this means now she requests it for her lunchbox salad. We don't often eat quinoa, but I had a batch made up this week and with a few leftover bits and pieces from a Mexican-inspired meal we had prepared earlier in the week this delicious salad was created.
Nevermind the kids! I reckon this lunchbox meal would please any adult too!

QUICK MEXICAN QUINOA SALAD

To serve one you'll need:
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 Tablespoons of salsa
1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup corn kernels
1/4 small capsicum - chopped
1/2 small avocado - diced

Stir a tablespoon of salsa into the quinoa and mix well. 
Add the other ingredients and stir through. Top with the remaining tablespoon of salsa.


 

Submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays
You can add your recipe on these blogs:
Vegan Dollhouse 
Rock My Vegan Socks

Mexican Lunch Muffins

With Term 3 starting back this week, my daughter is missing her warm lunches that she got on holidays. She asked me to share this recipe.
Created by herself, it's a simple meal that she can easily make while Mummy is working from home.
So here you have it, Miss Vegans favourite school holiday lunch.

MEXICAN LUNCH MUFFINS

What you need:
Wholemeal English Muffin
Mild Salsa
Avocado
Refried beans from a can
Tofutti "Cheese" Slices

Split the muffin in half and toast it in a toaster.
Spread the muffin with the salsa, avocado and refried beans.
Put a slice of tofutti on top and then bake it in the oven until the cheese is melted.
Serve warm.

Question of the day:
Are there any simple little meals that your school age children can make themselves without needing your help?

Mexican Meets Italian

Another recipe that eventuated when my hubby felt like something different than me! 
He wanted pasta, I wanted Mexican.............. so we decided to merge them!

One word.....
       YUM

Oh, and another few words too.....
       TRY IT!

To serve 2 you'll need:
200g spaghetti
1 cup black beans
1 red capsicum, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup cashews
1 teaspoon chili
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 avocado, chopped into pieces

Cook spaghetti per packet directions.
In a large frying pan combine the black beans along with the chopped vegetables, corn kernels and cumin. Dry fry til veggies have softened, approx ten minutes.
While the spaghetti and bean mixture is cooking make the sauce.
In a blender combine the cashews, chili, garlic, lime juice, nutritional yeast, and water. Blend until smooth.
When the spaghetti is cooked, drain & return to the pot. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti and stir until all the strands are lightly coated, warm over gentle heat just so the sauce is warmed through.
Serve the spaghetti in a bowl with the bean/veggie mix spooned over, a large spoonful of salsa and some chopped avocado pieces.

What do you think.....?
Can Mexican and Italian be mixed?!?!?!?!?

Submitted for Healthy Vegan Friday. You can add your recipe at these blogs: 

carrie on vegan                    veggie nook                    greenthickies  

Meatless Mondays A-Z Avocado

Have you ever heard of the Meatless Monday campaign?

I think its such a wonderful idea! As the website says "Good for you, good for the planet." 

I'm also joining in the Meatless Monday A-Z challenge hosted by the Better With Veggies blog. Each week I'll post a recipe for the food letter! You can read up about it here.
I missed the official start so even though this week is blueberry week I'm playing catchup and sharing my avocado recipe.

Check out what's in store for April:

I don't often eat avocados. So it was a nice change to buy one this week to experiment with.

As I walked through the fruit & veg shop thinking what I would create I remembered a time when I saw sliced avocado served with sliced mango. Even though it was plain is was delicious. I wondered if oranges would taste as yummy with avocado too so I decided to experiment. 

I was honestly surprised at how delicious this was! Don't be scared of the vinegar - it creates a wonderful sweet & sour taste that is just divine!


Avocado & Orange Salad

1/2 avocado
1 orange
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper



Peel and slice the orange. Slice the avocado. Serve in a dish & pour over the balsamic. Sprinkle with the pepper and serve.

Avocado Tip:
You can store avocados in brown paper bags to make them ripen quicker.
Remove the button from the bottom of the avocado to tell if its ripe. If the flesh showing is brown then its overripe, if its green then its ready to eat.

Stuff it!

mmmmmmmmm so tasty!

I love stuffed vegetables.

My all time favourite vegetable to stuff is red capsicum! Its so sweet & delicious when its been roasted! I just LOVE it!

Here's some other veggies that stuff well:

- eggplant

- zucchini

- sweet potato 

- tomatoes

- choko

How to stuff vegetables:

If the vegetable is hollow, simply cut the top off & spoon out any seeds.

If the vegetable is full - you need to scoop out the flesh (you can use it in the stuffing mixture).

Mix the 'stuffing' in a big bowl.

Spoon into the vegetables and bake until soft. 

TIPS: 

- If the vegetable is very hard you may need to precook it a little to be able to scoop the flesh out!

- I find a moderate oven works best, so that it doesn't burn the outside of the vegetable skin.

- I recommend cooking time of 40-60 minutes depending on how 'hard' the vegetable is - note that precooked vegetables will take less time.

 

Ideas for stuffing mixture:

- precooked brown rice

- tomatoes

- capsicum

- lentils
- spinach leaves

- mashed potato

- carrots (don't need to be precooked)

- tofu

- onion, spring onion

- mushrooms

- sauerkraut

 And don't forget your herbs and spices!

You can top with avocado once the vegetables are cooked if you like :D

Its so much fun to experiment with different flavours and it can make the meal taste so different each time! Why not combine some classic flavours like Indian spiced-rice with coconut milk, or Italian herbs & lentils, or pizza-type vegetables with a tomato base.

Pictured is a mix of carrots, spinach, brown rice & tomatoes with basil.

 

BUT WAIT.................. There's more!!!!!

I just feel like potatoes deserve a special mention of their own! Probably because I never 'stuff' potatoes in quite the same way that I do other vegetables!

I always prebake them wrapped in foil & then cut them open to pile (and pile high) my fillings on. 

I usually opt not to precook my fillings for stuffing potatoes but rather use easy to chop and serve fillings such as baked beans, mashed avocado and several canned items - pineapple, corn etc. I also find that lots of leftover meals can be warmed and served on top of baked potatoes to re-create the meal is a whole new light!

So good! The topping list is endless!

Pictures is leftover lentils, capsicum, mushrooms, spring onion, corn & tahini.

Simple stuffed potato - baked beans & mashed avocado! So delicious!

Tex-Mex Pizza

Another great vegan pizza - this time without any 'cheese'.

Mash a can of borlotti beans with 150g salsa.

Spread over a pizza base as you would pizza sauce.

Top with mushroom slices & corn.

Put your pizza in the oven.

While you're pizza is cooking, make the avocado dip.

Combine the flesh of one ripe avocado with a 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon chilli and a 1/4 teaspoon lime juice. Mash well.

Drop spoonfuls of the avocado dip onto the pizza!

 Slice and serve.

Green Pasta

I was so surprised at how tasty this dish was when I made it up!  I didn't quite know what to expect as I have never tried avocado & lime juice together before.

This recipe came about from our "Green Day" and thinking of as many green foods as I could to put into our dinner!

I wasn't planning to put it on my blog but it has ended up here, because I need to share how tasty it is!

You'll need:
Enough spinach fettuccine to serve 2
1/2 cup frozen peas
4 cubes frozen chopped spinach
1/2 zucchini, cut into long thin slices

Bring a pot of water to the boil & add all the above ingredients. Cook for approx 15 minutes until the pasta in al dente.

While the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce.
In a mini food processor or blender combine:
flesh of 1 fresh avocado
1/2 cup soymilk (I used unsweetened)
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Whisk until very smooth and runny.

Drain the pasta but don't shake it out heaps as you need a little bit of moisture on the pasta to help the sauce spread.
Put the pasta back into the pot and pour the sauce over the top. Add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast & mix well until all strains of the fettuccine have been lightly coated with the sauce.

Enjoy :-)

Cold days salad

I love having a salad for lunch - though on cold days that can be really hard to do.
So I'm on a quest to find a way of having a nice big salad loaded with veggies but that can be stomached on a cold & windy day!

Here's another tasty one I've come up with:

Assemble 2 cups of leaves of choice on a plate.
Slice half an avocado over the top of the leaves.
In a small frying pan combine:
1/2 chopped small brown onion
1/2 tin red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup mushrooms sliced
1/4 green capsicum.
Water sautee for 5 mins until onion is tender.
Add a teaspoon bbq sauce & a teaspoon of sweet chili sauce. Stir til all things are lightly coated in the sauce.

Pour over the leaves & avo.
Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Enjoy on the couch in front of a heater!!! ;-)

Avocado Choc-Orange Mousse

mmmmmmmm more chocolate :-)

This is a quick and easy one that can be whizzed up anytime you feel like it. My perferences are afternoon tea and dessert, but hey - there's no reason why you couldn't have this for breakfast if you wanted to! ;-)
I love the mix of chocolate & orange flavours together. If you don't - you can easily omit the orange juice & just put in a bit of soymilk to help this blend together. Try other flavours too - mint.... almond..... choice is yours :-)

You'll need:
1 frozen avocado (I've noticed that there are new packs in the freezer section at Woolies now that have avocado halves frozen - what a great idea)
2 Tablespoons cacao (or cocoa if you prefer)
1 Tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
juice of 1 orange

Combine all this in a blender or mini food processor.
Process til smooth (this may take some time, and this is also the point where I wish for a Vitamix!!!).