A Few of My Favorite Vegetarian Dishes

[Dia Minha]

Enchiladas

I used this recipe for my sauce. It has a lot of fat and next time I'm going to cut back about half and I'm sure it will be just fine. However, if you use a omega 3 fat (olive oil or canola oil) and have a hard time getting healthy fats in your diet put it all in. Especially since you are not adding any fat with meat or cheeses.

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
salt to taste

I added chopped onions, because we love onions at our house and I love adding more veggies to everything I make. I think next time I will add some chopped tomatoes or a can of crushed in place of the water to add even more.

Then I just scooped about 1/4 cup of fat free refried beans into a flour tortilla and rolled it up. Placed it in a casserole dish with some sauce on the bottom. When all the tortillas were rolled, I fit about 8, I smothered them all with the sauce.

I served it with lettuce greens, freshly chopped tomatoes and cucumbers.

Next time I want to try it with corn or whole wheat tortillas to increase the protein. I'm sure it won't taste as good, but I have found that the more I eat whole wheat the less I miss white.

---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 AM ----------

Fajitas

Instead of slicing your veggies, chop them. Instead of meat add two cans, rinsed, black beans. Season as you would normally and serve over couscous instead of wrapped in a tortilla. Couscous is like a little pasta packed full of protein. It is like whole wheat pasta, but taste a whole lot better. Top with freshly sliced avacadoes.

[Meticulous madness]

Yum! I usually buy my enchilada sauce in a can. I guess I've never thought about making it. Maybe I'll be adventurous next time.

[Erudite]

This does sound good! Dia, try steaming the corn tortillas to soften them for this treatment. That's what I do when I do tacos. Speaking of which, let me give you my super duper easy recipe for that.

Erudite's Tacos
Frying pan
dump 1 can of black beans with liquid in pan
Drain 1 can of corn and add corn to beans
Sprinkle on 1 TBS taco seasoning (or you can do some cumin, chili powder, and garlic salt to taste)
Bring to a simmer.
Stir frequently until most of the liquid is cooked off.

Put 3 corn tortillas in a foldover sandwich baggie and close baggie. Microwave for 30 seconds or until soft.

Add "meat" to center of corn tortilla and whatever else you want.

We do chopped tomatoes
chopped cucumber
shredded leaf lettuce
chopped avocado (or guacomole which we make by fork smashing an avocado and adding a dash of garlic salt and onion powder), and
salsa.

YUM! You can use the same treatment and skip the corn tortillas and triple the lettuce for a scrumptious taco salad OR put the bean/corn mixture over rice or quinoa and top with all the veggies except the lettuce.

[natickgirl]

Mmmmmm....couscous and quinoa. You can also try servings things over bulgar wheat.

I may have mentioned this before, but I sometimes make sloppy joes using lentils instead of gr. beef or turkey. Similar texture & very filling.

I also LOVE making veggie soups: minestrone, veggie & cheese, lentil w/kale, mushroom & barley. (I admit that I do use chicken & beef bouillon.)

[I second the veggie fajitas. Saute sliced onions, garlic, and sliced red, green, and/or yellow bell peppers. Add tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, chili pwdr, black beans, and corn. We serve them in whole wheat tortillas w/lettuce, cheese, sour cream, refried beans, spanish rice and avocados.]