Tacos, Jamaican roasted veggies and fruit salad

So yesterday I invited my parent's over for a south of the border feast :)
Unfortunately I had a late start to dinner preparation so I didn't get a chance to finish all that I wanted to make. Oh well.

Tacos:
2 sweet potatoes finely chopped
1 tbsp oil

1 can of black beans
1 portobello mushroom sliced and then roughly chopped
1/2 can of salsa
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp lemon juice


Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with oil and put into oven at 400 F for 30 minutes. Place the portobello
mushroom in a large bowl.  Dump the rest of the ingredients on top of the portobello, let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Place ingredients in a frying pan until mushrooms are cooked.  Mix the mushroom mixture with the finished potatoes for the taco filling.

Garnish with:
chopped romaine
chopped tomato
ketchup -- I'm weird I know lol I love ketchup with tacos
salsa
vegan sour cream, cheese
guacemole

-- I just used romaine, tomato and ketchup and a little bit of taco sauce.
---------------------

Jamaican veggies:

1 bunch of broccolini roughly chopped
1 sweet potato diced
1 potato diced
2 carrots chopped
1 tomato diced
1 yellow bell pepper sliced
1 onion
1 slice of pineapple
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of lime juice
1-2 tbsp of sugar (if at all)
2 tsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkle with pepper and red chili flakes

I made two varieties of this dish, since my mom isn't a fan of pineapples. I made a version for her using a tomato in place of the pineapple, she really enjoyed it!  So basically first place the potatoes, carrots and onion on a baking dish, put into the oven at 425 F for 30 minutes covered.  While veggies are cooking blend the pineapple with the orange and lime juice, sugar, ginger, garlic, nutmeg and salt.  Once blended add the pepper and flakes.  Take the veggie tray out and add broccolini, tomato, bell pepper to the mixture and pour the juice blend over the veggies.  Re-cover and put into the oven for another 30 minutes -- could even do with possibly 20 minutes.

---

Fruit Salad:
Serves 3

1/4 cup blueberries
1 pear
1 banana
1/3 cup grapes
1/2 cup unsweetened yogurt
3-4 tbsp agave
1/4 cup of orange juice
2 tbsp lime juice
Soy whip cream

Mix all the ingredients minus the whip cream.  Serve up 3 portions of fruit salad, and top with whipped cream. My family loved this, a very healthy light desert that definitely goes within the south of the border theme :)

I also served vegan chocolate chip cookies  :)

PS i was going to add mangos to this dish.. however once opened they were completely bruised inside :(

Oh well.

Cookbook references:

Jamaican veggies adapted version of the one in
Hot Vegan by Robin Robertson

Tacos inspired by seitan and potato taco recipe in
Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero

Fruit salad inspired by
vegetarian.about.com recipe "Creamy Vegan Ambrosia Fruit Salad with Pineapple"

Masala Crepes with Tomato Chutney and (lemon poppy seed bars)

Potato Masala (to place on crepe)

5 potatoes chopped and steamed for 20 minutes
1 onion chopped
1 leek chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ginger minced
1/4 cup coriander chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of hing
salt

Saute mustard seeds in oil until they pop.  Add cumin seeds, onion and leek let sizzle for 1-2 minutes, then add green chillies and ginger.  Add the turmeric and hing, mix well.  Combine the potatoes and coriander stir and keep aside.

Tomato Chutney (this recipe needs a good blender or grinder):
4-5 small tomatoes
1 onion
3 chillies
pinch of hing
2 pieces of dry tamarind
1 tbsp oil
salt

Heat the oil, saute chillies and onion for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes and hing.  Lightly salt. Keep cooking the tomatoes until they are soft and completely cooked.  Add mixture to a blender or grinder and add the tamarind.

Crepes (good blender needed):
3 cups water
3/4 cup dates
1/4 cup dried currents (dates and currents can be replaced with raisins if needed)
1 cup buckwheat flour (I at first put 1/2 oat and 1/2 cup gluten free flour mixture, but the crepes weren't binding, I added 1 cup of buckwheat flour and it helped a lot)
2/3 cup cashews
small handful of sesame seeds
handful of pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds (all the seeds unnecessarily but can add a cup of nuts/seeds of your choice instead of cashews through sunflower seeds)
2 tbsp flaxseeds
pinch of salt

combine all ingredients apart from flour in a blender.  Blend until smooth. Add mixture to flour and stir well.  The batter should be a little thinner than waffle batter.  Add water if needed.

This recipe was a little difficult, but with practice it an be done.
Pan should be heated to a medium heat -- make sure it is non stick.  Pour 1/2 cup of batter on to the pan and quickly rotate pan to cover the bottom, or smear the batter with the bottom of the cup, before it cooks -- otherwise it will ruin it.. but if you do it fast enough it can work.



Eat crepes topped with potatoes and lathered with tomato chutney.

:)


LEMON POPPY SEED BARS

--- So when I had the crepes I add additional batter left over this is what I did with the batter -- I probably had about 2-3 cups of batter left.

I added
2 tsp of lemon oil
1/4 cup poppyseeds
1 cup of oat flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar
1-2 tbsp agave
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Heated the oven to 375 degrees
Cooked them for 14 minutes.

Came out fabulous!

Throw together dinner

My husband made this salad yesterday, and it was amazing.  We had some mixed salad from the CSA we get from, so it was red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce and rucola.   He made up the salad dressing, it somewhat reminded me of a thai peanut/thousand island... I'm not sure but it was impressive, and took him less than 5 minutes to throw together.


Tangy Thai Cashew Dressing
1/3 cup of cashews
2 tsp olive oil
dash of zesty spice (salt alternative)
1/4 of water
1-2 tbsp of sesame seeds
1 tsp of agave
1 tsp of sriracha
dash of thai peanut dressing
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Blend in a vitamix, or other blender :)
These ingredients may need to be adjusted a bit, my husband likes to
explain ingredients by the 'dash' of something or 'handful'
I saw him put some of the ingredients in, so these are my best estimates
otherwise you can follow his advise and put 2 handfuls of cashews
and a dash of everything else... and just enough water to help it blend.
It's a very creamy and rich dressing, definitely a new favorite :)


Potatoes and Asparagus
2 russet potatoes peeled and cubed
1 bunch of asparagus roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp of oil
3 dashes garlic powder
3 dashes onion powder
4-5 dashes black pepper
2 dashes of salt

Bake on 350 F, for 45 minutes.  

Savory Breakfast

Cheesy breakfast potato scramble

This is a hearty breakfast, great for celebrations.  If you like vegan sausage, this is a good one to add it to, but it’s not missing if its not added.  Guacamole or chopped  chives would be a fabulous adornment but not necessary.

1 bunch dandelion greens chopped

1 russet potato chopped small

Steam the potato pieces, and once done, put them in a bowl.  Put the greens in the steamer for just a few minutes enough time that they just barely wilt. 

Cheesy sauce:

½ cup nutritional yeast

1 cup water

1 ½ tsp Dijon

½ tsp of salt or kelp ‘salt’

dash of zesty spice (ground lemon)

dash of pepper

1 tbsp of tapioca starch (this gives it’s stringy cheese texture)

1 ½ tsp braggs

‘Scrambled Eggs’

1 lb tofu

½ tsp sage

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

¼ tsp basil

½ tsp turmeric

1 tomato chopped.

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 ½ tsp brags

Saute the garlic and onion in 2 tbsp of water until onion is rather clear.  Mix tofu and seasonings in another bowl and then add to the pan.  Cook until hot.  Add chopped tomato to end. 

These dishes can be served side by side or mixed, based on preference.