Vegan Frozen Burritos!

Ingredients for Frozen Vegan Burritos

Broccoli, cilantro, homemade refried beans, black beans, brown rice, baked sweet potato, baked yukon golds, roasted red pepper, cilantro lime tempeh, spicy tempeh, arrow root and water, 30 tortillas.

I used to love those cheap, frozen bean and cheese burritos - but they're not vegan. There are some frozen vegan burritos on the market - but I have found them expensive and bland. This recipe is for making 30 of your own vegan burritos for freezing.

You can use the recipe exactly, or as a loose guide - you can basically put whatever you want in your burritos. I made each one a bit different, and it's great - each burrito is a surprise.

This recipe requires a bit of prep - but it made for super easy hot lunches at work - and I was glad I put in the work.

First, 8 or 10 hours before you make the burritos - soak your beans.

1 cup dried pinto beans

2/3 cup dried black beans

Second, cook your beans and rice.

1.5 cups uncooked brown rice

Soaked beans

Water
Salt

Gently simmer the beans in new boiling water.
Add salt only during the last ten minutes of cooking.
Note: Although it may be tempting to cook the beans in one pot, they will likely have different cooking times - so simmer them in separate pots.
Cook the rice according to package instructions.
Set all ingredients aside.

Third, bake your sweet potatoes and yukon golds.

2 medium sweet potatoes

4-5 medium yukon gold potatoes

Wash, then bake the potatoes at 350 for about 1 hour.

Chop, the yukon golds.

Remove the skins and mash the sweet potatoes.

Set aside.

Fourth, marinade your tempeh.

Spicy chili tempeh.

Cilantro lime tempeh

1 package standard tempeh

Spicy Chili Tempeh

1/8 cup soy sauce (tamari)

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne 

1/8 tsp MSG

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 TBS canola oil

Scant 1/4 water

Cilantro Lime Tempeh

1/8 cup soy sauce (tamari)

2 TBS minced cilantro
1 TBS lime juice

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 TBS canola oil

1/2 tsp mustard

Scant 1/4 cup water

Stir together marinades in two separate bowls.

Cut tempeh into strips slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.

Simmer tempeh in boiling water for 7 or 8 minutes.

Use tongs to remove the tempeh, and drop directly into the marinades.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Fifth, prepare the refried beans.

3 cups cooked pinto beans (what you already cooked)

3 TBS canola oil

1/2 cup minced onion

3-5 canned chipolte peppers in adobo sauce, seeded to the best of your ability

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt

Puree about 1/2 cup of the beans with 1 TBS oil.

Mash the rest of the beans.

Soften the onion in the remaining oil, for about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add garlic, cooking for 2 more minutes.

Add the squashed beans and bean puree.

Cover, simmer about 10 minutes until desired consistency is reached. You might have to add some water, if they start to get too thick.

Add salt to taste.

Set aside.

Sixth, prepare the rest of your vegetables.

1 large head broccoli

1 large or 2 medium red peppers

Olive oil

1 bunch cilantro, diced.

Quickly boil the broccoli, drain, and set aside.

Roast the red pepper in the olive oil (about 20 minutes at 425)

Dice the cilantro

Set aside.

Seventh, mix your arrow root.

N. This may not be totally necessary - and you might be able to use a similar cornstarch mixture. The idea is to seal closed the burritos.

2 tsp arrow root

1.5 TBS warm water

Mix together, and set aside. (N. you will continually have to remix this as you use it)

Eight, assemble your burritos

Be careful not to overfill your burritos - this is about the max you can stuff into one.

30 pack medium flour tortillas (be sure not to get tortillas with lard)

Get out all your ingredients in one place.

Put whatever you want into each burrito. (All mine had brown rice, one of the beans and one of the tempehs, everything else I just combined how I wanted.)

Wrap your burritos and seal with the arrowroot mixture - there's a bit of a trick to folding the burrito correctly - visit here to see step by step pictures if you're not sure.

Vegan Burritos - filled, wrapped and ready to freeze.

Wrap burritos in foil (I made two packs) and freeze. I also put the foil in freezer bags because I had them around, and they come out of the freezer just like new.

You're done!

To reheat, either cook unwrapped in the oven or toaster over at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or microwave on high for about 2:30 for two burritos.

Vegan Triple Nut Lasagna!

Vegan Triple Nut Lasagna

I use a simple store bought spaghetti sauce for this triple nut vegan lasagna.

This high protein lasagna combines a spinach pesto made with peanuts, tofu ricotta with sunflower seeds and almesan - an almond based parmesan replacement from Veganomicon. The recipe is divided into it's component parts - which are combined at the end of the recipe.

First, make a package of lasagna according to the instructions. 

Drain, rinse well and set aside.

Second, make the spinach pesto,

Spinach pesto forms one layer in vegan triple nut lasagna.

1/4 cup roasted or blanched unsalted peanuts

2 TBS olive oil

 1 bunch spinach, washed and stems removed

1 package firm tofu

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients. 

If your processor is not sharp like mine, then do the peanuts first, then add the spinach and oil, then process the rest.

Set aside.

Third, make the sunflower seed ricotta,

Olives and sunflower seeds give rich flavor to this tofu ricotta.

1 package extra firm tofu

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 TBS nutritional yeast

1.5 TBS olive oil

1 TSB lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

pepper

1 cup sliced olives.

Mash all the ingredients together except the olives. 

Stir in the olives.

Set aside.

Fourth, make the almesan.

Who knew - almonds can replace parmesan cheese.

 1/4 cup almonds

1 TBS toasted sesame seeds

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lemon zest

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor. 

Set aside.

Like I said, this recipe is from Veganonicon, which I really need to encourage you to buy - it's full of great recipes! Must have for the vegan cook.

Fifth, prepare the mushrooms and garlic

2.5 cups sliced mushrooms

1/4 tsp salt

4.5 garlic cloves, sliced thin

2 teaspoons olive oil

Dry saute the mushrooms. (Put them in a pan over medium high heat without oil. Sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring frequently until water comes out of the mushrooms and evaporates.)

When most of the water is gone, turn heat to medium low, add the olive oil and garlic, saute for 3 to 4 minutes. (Tip - really make sure the pan is cool enough before you add the garlic - i usually set mine on an unused burner for a minute after I turn down the heat).

Set aside.

Sixth - Combine your lasagna in a 13 x 9 glass pan.

Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Add a layer of noodles.

Add spinach pesto, tofu ricotta, sauce and mushrooms.

Repeat.

On the top layer of noodles, cover with sauce and almesan. 

Bake covered at 350 for 40 minutes, then uncovered for 20 minutes.

Not my best picture - but you get the idea.

You're done!

Vegan Vegetable Stock (Making and Freezing)

Vegan Vegetable Stock

Vegetables for Stock - Everything is pictured except the cauliflower.

Vegetable stock is great to have around. I use it in stir fry sauce, pasta dishes of course, soups. It's pretty simple to make - just cut up the vegetables, soften some of them, and throw them in a pot with water. I made this recipe in the morning, and used a crock pot on low to cook it all day.

1.5 TBS Olive Oil

3 medium carrots, chopped

3 medium onions, chopped (I used a red, yellow and sweet onion)

1 head garlic, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Medium head cauliflower, chopped

1 bunch parsley, chopped

3 bay leaves

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

14 cups water

First, chop your vegetables.

Chopped vegetables for vegan vegetable stock.

Second, soften carrots through green onion over medium high heat in the olive oil.

Vegetables softening for vegan vegetable stock.

Third, combine the softened veggies and the rest of the ingredients in a slow cooker, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. If you don't have a slow cooker, just simmer everything over very low heat in a large pot on the stove.

Fourth, strain the mixture and refrigerate to cool.

Fifth, you're done and the stock is ready to use - but, if you want, you can freeze the stock.

A muffin tin is one way to freeze vegetable stock for later use. This created almost exactly 1/3 cup portions.

Sixth, remove the frozen stock from the muffin tins, and place into freezer bags. Freeze.

Spicy Vegan Teriyaki Stir Fry

Teriyaki vegetables over Chinese wheat noodles

 

This is a recipe from a stir-fry-sauce zine I was working on awhile back. The idea was that you can stir fry whatever you want or like or happen to have around. What people usually have trouble with is coming up with a good sauce. I did lots of experimentation, and this spicy teriyaki was one of my favorites.

First, prepare the fire oil.

Red pepper flakes heating in canola oil.

You can add some slow-zip to your recipe by making chili, or fire oil. I find that heat added in this way is more evenly distributed and comes on slower than simply spicing a dish with cayenne or fresh peppers. If you don't have time though, you can certainly skip it.

1.5 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup canola oil

Heat and pepper flakes in a small pan over low heat (2 on my oven), for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool for five minutes.

Strain then set aside.

WARNING: You're not supposed to store oil prepared in this way, you could get botulism, which is only sort of like getting a botox injection.  Just make what you need for the recipe you're working on. 

Strained fire oil.

Second, prepare your teriyaki sauce.

Liquid ingredients of the teriyaki sauce.

 2 TBS fire oil

1 tsp garlic, minced

2 tsp ginger, minced

2 tsp sriracha

1 TBS brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1.5 tsp corn starch dissolved in 1.5 TBS water

Lightly saute the garlic and ginger with the oil in a small sauce pan.

Mix together and add the liquid ingredients.

Bring to a simmer

Add the corn starch mixture, continue to simmer until the sauce starts to thicken.

Remove from heat.

Third, stir fry your veggies.

You could also add tofu, carrots, or anything else you want.

2 TBS fire oil

1/2 cup almond slivers

Veggies (you can do whatever you want, but I'll list what I had)

1/2 cup white onion, diced

3/4 cup red cabbage, cut in strips

1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

1/2 orange bell pepper, cut in strips

1 small zucchini, chopped

Left over garlic and ginger

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Saute the vegetables in the oil over medium heat. This was my order/timing:

 Almond slivers, about 3 minutes

Then add onions for 2 minutes 

Then add cabbage, pepper and broccoli for 3 more minutes

(upon adding cabbage, pepper and broccoli, I add a few TBS water, and cover to hasten softening)

Zucchini for about 1 more minute

Around zucchini time, add about half your sauce, cilantro and any left over garlic and ginger.

Reduce heat and lightly simmer.

Fourth, cook your noodles. Rice would work too.

I used these wheat noodles with poorly translated instructions.

Cook and rinse noodles according to instructions. Mine boiled about 3 minutes.

Fifth, add the noodles to the veggies.

Combine cooked noodles and vegetables.

Add about 1/2 the remaining sauce (1/4 of all the sauce).

Cover, and heat on low for about 2 minutes.

Serve with left over sauce, and a fresh lime if desired.

You're done!

Vegan Sticky Rice with Bean Sauce

Sticky Rice Balls with Refried Black Beans

Sticky rice made right shouldn't stick to your hands at all. Mine was slightly overcooked.

1 cup uncooked sticky rice

1 TBS oil

1/2 can refried black beans

1 tsp sriracha

1 tsp lime juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 - 1/2 cup water

Okay, super short entry on the lunch I had the other day.  Had some left over canned, refried black beans from Trader Joe's.  I made sticky rice, and heated up the beans in a sauce pan with the other listed ingredients to make a simple sauce.

To make sticky rice, you soak the rice for at least an hour, then steam it, covered, for 10 minutes, stir, and steam, covered, for another 3 to 5 minutes.  When perfectly cooked, you should be able to eat it with your hands, without getting messy.  Although long winded, there is a great video explanation of the proper technique here.

Vegan Cashew Chicken!

Savory Vegan Cashew Chicken

Plated cashew chicken over jasmine rice.

Cashew chicken used to be one of my favorite dishes commonly available in Chinese restaurants. This vegan version turned out great, all the ingredients blended together perfectly.  Now, I use MSG in this recipe; gasp! I don't think it's too big of a deal, but you can learn more about it here. Here's what you do:

First, marinade the tofu.

Pressed, marinaded and repressed tofu!

Okay, so I'm sure it's been done before, but I'm going to take credit for this method of cooking tofu, because I didn't read about it anywhere else and it worked out great.

Press the tofu
Marinade the tofu in the fridge
Re-press the tofu

Tofu Marinade

3-4 TBS soy sauce

 1 TBS rice vinegar

2 tsp ginger, minced

2 tsp dried onion flakes

1/4 tsp MSG

Second, stir fry the cashews

Heat 2 TBS oil in a large pan or wok.

Add the cashews, saute until golden brown.

Remove cashews from the pan and set aside.

Third, cut and saute the tofu.

If you stir constantly, your tofu will never brown.  Leave it alone for a bit.

Fourth, cut the veggies while you saute the tofu.

You can use whatever veggies you want, snap peas would be a great addition.

1/2 yellow pepper, chopped 

1 cup broccoli, chopped

1 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped

1 small yellow summer squash, chopped

Fifth, add the broccoli and yellow pepper, saute for 3 or 4 minutes.
Sixth, add the mushrooms and summer squash, continue to saute.

Seventh, mix up and add the sauce.

The sauce

2 TBS hoisin

1 generous tsp sriracha 

1 TBS soy sauce

Veggies, combined with sauce and tofu.

After mixing the sauce with the veggies, add the cashews.

Now, thicken with 1 tsp corn starch dissolved in 1 TBS water.

Stir in, simmer for a few minutes.

Add MSG to taste.

Serve over rice.

Garnish with a few fresh cashew pieces.

You're done!

Vegan Fish Sauce!

Okay, a quick entry here - I'd been working on crafting a vegan version of fish sauce, the pungent  flavoring used in a lot of Asian cooking. The idea was to create something pungently umami flavored, but without animal ingredients.  Fish sauce is a crucial ingredient in pad thai, and although my pad thai was ultimately a failure, I'm happy with how my fish sauce turned out, and I would make it the same way again.

Here's what you do:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 TBS nutritional yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp lime juice

Heat all the ingredients in a small sauce pan until just simmering.  Cover, remove from heat, and let stand for about ten minutes.  Remove or strain out the mushroom pieces and you're done.