When? May 14, 2008
I haven’t updated in about week, but I have made so many dinners in that amount of time that I just wish I had time to take photos of them all! For one, using the tofu ricotta recipe in Veganomicon I made a roasted toasted lasagna that went down a treat with all the omnivores at a bar-b-que last weekend. If only they knew there was tofu in it! It’s so funny that sense of fear I have seen in a number of omnivores when it comes to eating tofu. That particular bar-b-que/party went on until the next morning and I offered to throw together some scrambled tofu to go with the breakfast for the masses. I altered between telling them it was tofu scramble and just getting them to taste (what they believed mostly consisted eggs) and they all loved the stuff! There were a good number, who on hearing it was tofu point blank refused to eat it. It’s a strange mentality. Mmm, I also made a sun-dried tapenade, also from Veganomicon that was eaten well before the bar-b-que even got started, so I’ll make sure to repeat that recipe again and post up the results.
Today’s recipe was last nights dinner - Paella. We had made this once before, so this recipe is pretty much ad lib. There are several places where you can find vegetarian paella recipes on the net,and they all tend to be vegan. I think of it as similar to cooking risotto, except you just add all the stock at once. This is probably going to feature largely in my kitchen this summer as it’s a light and amazingly full of flavor dish. That and it’s super easy to do, especially because you should have most of the ingredients on hand. Nick and I threw together a large pot of Sangria to go with our Paella that kept us going all night. It’s amazing how good a cheep bottle of wine can taste when mixed right. Sooo good. omm.
On to the Ingredients: 
- 250g / Half a bag of Paella Rice (You can use other types of rice if you can’t find paella rice)
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 4/5 cloves garlic loosely chopped
- 1 red and 1 yellow Bell Pepper sliced
- 1 courgette chopped
- 6 large Mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tin Chopped Tomatoes
- A pinch of Saffron (You may substitute Turmeric if you don’t have any saffron)
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 1 lemon
- Optional. You can get a tin of artichokes to garnish, but I wouldn’t eat enough of them to make it work buying the tin so didn’t bother.
Directions:
In a large pot heat up the olive oil and then add the onions and garlic. You can of course do all this in a large frying pan and serve the pan to the table. Just make sure you don’t loose many ingredients when you stir! Cook these until the onions are translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables, and cook for about 5 minutes then add the peas. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the tin of tomatoes, rice and safron and mix well. Then add the stock. Cook for about 15/20 minutes stirring often and adding small amounts of water if necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with lemon slices and a large glass of Sangria
When? April 21, 2008
I can’t believe I haven’t posted about this recipe yet. This is a stable in our house, eaten at least once a week. My boyfriend would have this every second day if he was allowed! Unfortunately, the only vegetables that we use in this recipe are onions and jalapeños. It is however a great source of protein and tastes fantastic. *yum*
VegWeb.com was a life saver when we first went vegan and were recipe book-less. It’s a great source of recipes and tips for cooking. These cheesy bean and cheese enchalidas are one of their top 10 recipes, with over 80,000 views and 125 reviews. There are tonnes of photos sent in by the users. I have ctrl+c and ctrl+v the instructions from the site and take no responsibility for it’s AWESOMNESS. Make this, you defiantly won’t regret it. 5 ommnomnom *s
Ingredients:
- 1/2c flour
- 1/2c nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 4 tablespoon margarine
- Or soya butter
- 10 tortillas
- The Old el Passo Salsa Tortillas are perfect for this
- 2 small cans enchilada sauce
- I use the 10 minute enchilada sauce from AllRecipies.com
- 3 cans beans (white kidney, pinto, black), drained
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1 can olives, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup salsa (optional)
- Tried this once, don’t bother adding these now
Directions:
In medium-large saucepan, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. Add water and mix thoroughly. Heat on medium heat until bubbling and thick. Remove from heat and add mustard and margarine. Set aside 1/2 cup of cheese sauce in separate container. Add onion, beans, olives, cilantro and salsa to sauce. Mix it up.
Pour a 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Place a tortilla in pan and cover in enchilada sauce. Spoon in filling. Roll and push to one end of pan. Continue until all tortillas filled. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top and then spread reserved cheese sauce on as last step. Bake at 350 until brown, 30-45 minutes.
Serves: 6
Preparation time: 45 min
