Chipotle - Sausage - Bean Breakfast Burro

I woke up really hungry today. I mean really hungry. I've been on a mission to shed the 40+ extra pounds I've gained since I met Fred. I'm not blaming him at all, but I tend to cook, eat, and drink more when I am happy. Happy is a good thing, fat is not. So, I am cutting back on the unhealthy, fried, high-fat, sugary crap and eat more nutrient dense foods. Today I wanted to splurge a little. While this is a little indulgent, it is not totally unhealthy as it packs a whopping 24.9 grams of protein per serving. It is a little high calorie at 495, but only 23% of the calories are from fat.

Why all the nutritional mumbo jumbo you might ask? I have become obsessed with the MyPlate tool on the livestrong.com website. I have been plugging in many of my recipes to see how well they fare on the fat/carb/calorie scale. Eventually my obsession will cause me to find another nutritional site to track vitamins and minerals too, but that will be for another day when I have more time on my hands.

Are you still with me and awake? If so, you will win the bonus prize of an awesome recipe to treat you and your family too when you are craving some good hearty breakfast burros!

Chipotle - Sausage - Bean Breakfast Burro

6 - 1/2 burrito servings

Canola spray

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 package of gimme lean sausage broken up or crumbled

1/2 cup sliced cremini mushrooms

1 cup cooked red kidney beans

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced

1 12 oz package firm tofu

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon tumeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup Daiya Italian Blend (or cheddar if that's the way you roll)

3 12" whole wheat tortillas (if you find low fat, you can lower the calorie content here)

Spray a bit of canola spray into a 10" iron skillet or non-stick pan. Over medium heat, saute garlic for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add Gimme Lean and brown. Once sausage is browned, add cremini mushrooms and a touch of water if pan is getting dry. Saute until the mushrooms just start to release their juices. Add kidney beans, tofu, nutritional yeast, tumeric, and salt and mix until everything is well distributed. Turn heat to med low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Mixture should be moist but not wet. 

Once mixture is cooked, sprinkle 1/4 cup Daiya on one end of each tortilla. Top with tofu mixture and roll up burrito style. You can eat them at this stage, but I like to cook them a little longer. In another large skillet, spray a bit more canola oil. Place rolled burritos in pan seam side down. Cook for 3-5 minutes until just starting to brown and crisp up a bit. Flip and do the same on the other side.

Serve with your favorite salsa.

The filling can also be enjoyed as a scramble without the tortillas. That cuts 110 calories and 2 grams of fat from the recipe. Leave off the cheeze and cut out 90 more calories and 7 grams of fat. So yes, I probably could have done without the tortillas and cheese, but sometimes it is just worth it. Hey, I still have 700 or so more calories to consume today! So there!!!

Vegan MOFO - Day 24 - Iron Chef - Apples and Peanut Butter

I had a hard time with this one. It could be because I think peanut butter and apples go together perfectly in their natural state. Why mess with a good thing. Well we can't have that attitude! For some reason, no crazy original idea came to me this week, so I borrowed from others.

I modified the scone recipe from Vegan Brunch and based my glaze on this recipe. I used almond milk for the regular milk and Toffutti cream cheese for the cream cheese. I halved the recipe. I found it to be a little thin for my purposes, so I added another tablespoon of peanut butter to get the consistency I was looking for.

Apple Cinnamon Scones with a Peanut Butter Glaze

These are super yummy and rich.

Vegan MOFO - Day 1 Farina Remake

Yay! It's time for vegan MOFO (month of food). I am going to do my best to remake family favorites of my friends and family...time and submissions permitting. I've had a couple of recipes sent to me that I am excited about converting!

But today, I'm going to be selfish and go down my own memory lane. When we were kids, both of my parents worked. My mom was prone to some very serious migranes. Many times we were left to fend for ourselves food-wise. When I was very young, my older brother often would have to find ways to fill our bellies. He was a domestic terrorist to me when we were kids. I usually tried to stay away from him because he was so mean. Every so often, he would be very kind. A couple of my fondest food memories are of those times he was kind and cooked for me.

I have a very distinct memory of a big snow storm. There were drifts in our front yard. It was so early it was still dark out. We came in from the cold and my brother made us Farina. This was one of my favorite breakfasts as a kid. I totally forgot about this stuff! I bought it some time back for a test recipe. I found it in the pantry last night and just had to make it!!!

In the day, we had it with whole milk and real butter and sugar. The vegan conversion was pretty simple. I used the recipe on the box and used almond milk for the water (or milk). I put a dollop of Earth Balance on top and sprinkled it with a little sugar. It was the warm creamy comforting stuff I remembered. Oh the simple goodness brought me back to those cold wintery days of my youth. Wouldn't it be fun to go sledding? I better go call my brother.

I'll post the pic later tonight. Happy MOFO-ing!

Men Who Cook

I am totally new to this blogging thing, so this is probably not going to be formatted well.

Never one to miss an opportunity to show of my wonderful boyfriend's kitchen prowess, we set out to create a tasty southwestern brunch dish. I absolutely love chile rellenos, but as an aspiring vegan needed to find a cheeseless version. Today Fred agreed not only to be a part of the Men Who Cook challenge, but he also agreed to take the first test run on a recipe I wrote. The delicious results are posted here.

Fred is very organized in the kitchen. His mis en place rocks. I had previously written the recipe for the rellenos, but was improvising on the sauce. I gave him a verbal recipe for that. Once he had the sauce simmering, I left him to his own devices with the written recipe. I missed a few steps in the instructions, but that didn't stop him. I can't figure out how to put descriptions next to the pictures, but there you have it.

I can't wait until he gets cooking (in the kitchen and elsewhere hee hee) again.

Breakfast Chili Rellenos Rancheros

With Ranchero Sauce
Serves 4

4 Anaheim chilies cut in half lengthwise
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 links soyrizo or any other brand of vegan chorizo chopped
2-3 cloves minced garlic
¼ C white onions finely chopped
1-2 roasted jalapeños chopped
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp chipotle powder
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 lb firm tofu
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
½ cup cooked black beans
¼ packed cup cilantro leaves roughly chopped (measured before chopping)

1 recipe Ranchero Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 (or this step can be done on a medium grill). Place chilies cut side down on cookie sheet and roast until just slightly softened (about 5-7 minutes). Pull out of oven and begin making filling.

In sauté pan, sauté chorizo until it just starts to brown. Turn off heat.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed or iron skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add onions and peppers and sauté until onions are translucent. Add chili powder, chipotle powder, cayenne pepper and turmeric mixing thoroughly. Crumble tofu in pan. Gently stir in nutritional yeast until incorporated. Fold in black beans, chorizo and cilantro. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes longer.

Gently stuff chili halves with tofu mixture. Before putting in the oven, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of ranchero sauce on each and bake for 10 minutes. Top with warm ranchero sauce and serve immediately with corn or flour tortillas. These will also reheat well for leftovers.

Ranchero Sauce
Makes about 3 cups

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 small white onion, halved and sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, micro planed or finely minced
2 Anaheim chilies cut in half lengthwise then sliced thinly
1 jalapeño, cut in half lengthwise then sliced thinly
(I leave the seeds in for heat, they can be removed if you want a milder sauce)
1 ½ tsp chipotle powder
½ t hot chili powder (mild if you want to tame it down a bit)
¼ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp salt
28 oz. can diced fire roasted tomatoes with juice

In heavy bottomed med saucepan sauté onions and garlic until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add Anaheim peppers and jalapeños and sauté until just soft. Add chipotle powder, chili powder, coriander, and salt. Stir until they are incorporated into vegetables. Sauté for about 3 minutes more. Add diced tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.

I recommend making this sauce the day before if possible and storing in a glass jar. The flavors will really intensify overnight.