Simple Tamale Pie

 

Here is part two of yesterday's Red Enchilada Sauce post. But today we are getting to the real "meat" or shall I say "meat-less" of the recipe!  I'm not a waster.  I find something that's been on my counter or in my fridge and to spare it from going stale or to waste, I'll work it in to my next recipe.

I've had this open bag of chips on my counter for about a week now.  Hubby and I have been munching away at these toasty tortilla chips but now that we are down to the last 3 cups of chips, neither of us are in the mood for any more.  So I was thinking about crumbling them over some sort of recipe but then I decided that I'd make a Simple Tamale Pie with some of the extra veggies I also had laying around from Hubby's garden.  I was pretty sure I had a can of enchilada sauce so I for sure was dead set on making something delicious.  For this recipe, feel free to use 2 cups of canned enchilada sauce to make this recipe even simpler, unless like me, your can of sauce is missing from your pantry.  But have no fear, the Red Enchilada Sauce recipe link is also here...Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe

 

Simple Tamale Pie Recipe~

 

1 small diced zucchini

1 small diced onion

1 large diced tomato

1 cup pinto beans

1 cup diced green chilies 

1 Tbs cumin

1 tsp cilantro

1 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3 cups corn chips

2 cups red enchilada sauce

Optional~ 1/2 cup corn 

                 1/4 cup black olives

                  a few slices non-dairy cheese

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a fry pan with a drizzle of oil and add zucchini.  Cook for about 8 minutes on medium/high heat, add onion, tomato and cook on high heat for two more minutes or until onions are translucent. Add cumin, cilantro, garlic, cayenne and stir well.  Remove from heat.  In a baking dish, spray with cooking spray and place half the chips on the bottom of the dish.  Add the mixture on top of the chips. (If adding corn and olives, add here.) Add the beans on top of the mixture and the diced green chilies on top of the beans.  Cover with remaining chips and slowly pour Red Enchilada Sauce evenly over the top. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil, add your favorite non-dairy cheese and broil for a few minutes until melted. 

Savor, Eat, Love and Enjoy....

 

 

 

Simple Tamale Pie

 

Don't miss a beat!  Like me on Facebook and Instagram.  Or subscribe to have these recipes sent directly to your email.

Thanks Bunches!

Red Enchilada Sauce

 

I'm almost an empty nester.  My dear daughter Kailey is getting married in 8 days, my daughter Erin has been married for 5 years, my son Vince is in Canada with the love of his life for a few weeks and my son David is with his Auntie and Uncle while he is enlisting in the Army. Since this new era in my life has hit me like a ton of bricks, I've found that grocery shopping happens way less in my home since I mostly cook for two now.  So thus, it seems like I am always out of something I need for creating a new recipe. And that, my dear friends, out of necessity, leads me to creations of two recipes in one. But to make things simple, I'll do this recipe for Red Enchilada Sauce first and then post my next recipe for Quick Tamale Pie tomorrow which will include this Super Saucy link also.  So bear with me, you'll love this sauce for starters and then tomorrow...Voila...a new dinner will be born, and you're going to love it!
Trust me...

Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe~

4 Tbs oil
3 Tbs flour
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups tomato sauce

In a sauce pan, heat oil and flour on med/high heat.  Stir until it forms into a paste, cook for 2 minutes, then add all the rest of the ingredients.
Cook on high for 2 minutes until bubbly and then simmer for 15 min.  Spoon over eggs, tamales, tamale pie, enchiladas, beans, etc...    Store remaining sauce in the refrigerator or can for future storage.

Quick Chili Cheesy Mac

Quick Chili Cheesy Mac

 Today is another, oh my gosh, I can barely think clearly because my daughter is getting married in a few weeks kinda day. A day when focusing is out the door, I feel like popcorn while popping from task to task and voila...now it's lunch time and I'm starving like a vegan at a non-vegan dinner party!

Holy Moly!

 So I gander to the refrigerator to look at my options. In the freezer I have one box of "Amy's Vegan Macaroni and dairy free cheese" and a vegan hamburger patty.  In the pantry I found a can of red kidney beans. What does that spell kids? Spells Lunch to me! Like a nice Chili Cheesy Mac if I say so myself. So I had to get on the ball since I needed something in my belly quick. And thus, this delicacy was created and a true quick and easy delicacy it is!

1 8oz frozen Amy's Rice Macaroni with dairyfree cheese
1 vegan burger patty
3/4 cup canned kidney beans
1 tbs chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp seasoning salt

Microwave Macaroni and cheese for 2 1/2 minutes. Warm burger in fry pan on stove on medium heat. Chop into small pieces. Add kidney beans, warmed macaroni and cheese, and spices and stir for about 1 minute on high heat. Serve...Eat...Love...Nourish and Enjoy!

Follow me on facebook and Instagram for more up-to-date information, behind the scenes, contests and photos galore! 

Garden Veggie Casserole

 

I have a garden.  Scratch that...my husband has a garden and he's quite proud of it.  Even though we only have a few veggies in it, he is always bringing his bounty in and leaving it on the counter for me. Today I woke up to a beautiful yellow squash and tomatoes.  As I pondered what I'd do with these delicacies, I felt the nice fall-like wind outside would require a casserole. I love fall and casseroles say "Fall" in love to me.  So I decided that a Garden Veggie Casserole would be in order since I had a zucchini from my friend Kelly's garden and a new batch of Italian bread crumbs that I had just made.  

I tell you what...I was in heaven.  I made a large quantity that would serve about 4-5 people however between my daughter Kailey and I, we devoured it. And I don't regret it one bit!  Make this...you'll love it.  And feel free to toss whatever veggies you have in the mix too.

 Garden Veggie Casserole

 

Garden Veggie Casserole Recipe
1 Tomato diced
1 lg yellow squash diced
1 Zucchini diced
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs salt Seasoning
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp fresh garlic
5 Tbs Italian seasoned bread crumbs (2 Tbs for recipe and 3 Tbs for topping)
1 Tbs Milk, I used unsweetened coconut
1 Tbs Vegan butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On stove, boil yellow squash and zucchini until almost tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. With a masher or fork, mash mixture but leaving it slightly chunky. To hot mixture, add diced tomatoes, onion powder, salt, thyme, garlic, butter and 2 Tbs bread crumbs and mix until butter is melted. Add milk and stir.  Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray and pour mixture in.  Sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes then serve. Eat. Love. Nourish!

Vegan Breakfast Sandwich

 

Stop what you doing right now. Gaze into this picture. You're getting hungrier and hungrier!  Salivate and then get the goods to make this today!  Trust me, you'll want this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I'm not one for bragging but I'm in Love with this Vegan Breakfast Sandwich that I made with a yummy Vegan Horseradish Hollandaise Sauce.   I ate one.  Then another half.  And now...

I crave them all the time.

Sometimes I really luck out with a recipe and by far, this is one of my most favorites eva!


Vegan Breakfast Sandwich recipe~

Brioche Buns, Biscuits, English muffins or even pancakes will work
Gardein Breakfast Patties
Firm Tofu, sliced into 3/4- 1 inch squares
Vegan butter, softened
Salt and Pepper
*Horseradish Hollandaise Sauce (*Recipe below)
Optional: a vegan cheese slice

Heat a fry pan over the stove on medium heat. Butter each inside of the Brioche or your favorite bread and grill in fry pan a few minutes until the bread is nice and toasted brown. Set aside. Add Gardein Breakfast Patties and Grill a few minutes on each side until hot. Set Aside.  Spray one side of tofu with a cooking spray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and fry salted and peppered side down about two minutes until it has a nice browning to it. Spray the top, sprinkle with more salt and pepper and carefully flip to grill the other side.
Assemble the sandwich with one patty, one piece of tofu and about two tablespoons Horseradish Hollandaise sauce....
Drool...then eat...then about now Nirvana will take over your body!  It's truly life changing.  And for those meat eaters in your life, they would never miss an Egg McMuffin after having one of these!

Horseradish Hollandaise Sauce~

1 Tbs vegan horseradish sauce or horseradish Mayo

1 Tbs nutritional yeast

2 Tbs lemon juice

1 pinch salt

3 Tbs rice milk

2 Tbs soft tofu

2 Tbs melted vegan butter or margarine

Combine all ingredients, except butter, in a high powered blender until creamy and smooth.  Add melted butter and blend again. Pour into sauce pan and cook over high heat, stirring frequently until it starts to thicken a bit.  Use it to compliment Vegan Breakfast Sandwiches, Vegetables and Toast. 

Vegan Breakfast Sandwich....Mouthwatering!

Follow me on facebook, instagram and pinterest for new and exciting recipes.  You won't want to miss any of them. 

Thanks for following and see ya'll soon!

Apricot Pie

 

 We had our first crop of delicious apricots grown right in our own yard...last year. Yes, we had so many apricots that I threw them into freezer bags and popped them right into a deep freeze, never to think about them again until today. 
Just recently while on a trip in Croatia, I had ventured into an open air coffee shop in Dubrovnik for a coffee. I was so hungry, I decided that I'd have to order a croissant.  To my delight, the first bite sent shivers down my spine, so much that it was almost life changing!  It was heavenly, and had just enough sweet yet sour apricot that I thought of nothing much that day other than that amazing croissant!  I didn't even realize there were apricot croissant! I honestly don't know what it was about it that sparked something inside me except that it was freshly made. When I got home from my trip, I bought some vegan croissant dough and thawed some apricots immediately.  (Some day I'll try and make my own croissant dough but today wasn't the day. In fact, today, I even had a frozen pie crust in the freezer. My lucky day!)   After I made the apricot mixture for my croissants, I had so much extra and still had apricots that I dug out the frozen pie crust and made a super quick and easy pie.  It was so good that three of us ate it all, in about a two hour time frame!  Yes, it was that good and oh that delicious. 
I have no shame in admitting it either.  I ate, and ate and ate...
and then I ate some more!

Apricot Pie
~serves 3-10 ( If you love it as much as I did, make another pie for guests!)
 (This pie is best with frozen apricots or very ripe apricots too.)

4 cups Apricots, pitted and halved and thawed if frozen
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp water
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 pie crusts
sugar for sprinkling

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, liquefy 1 1/2 cups of apricots.  Put into a pot on stove and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add sugar and cinnamon.  Stir until mixed.  Put cornstarch into a little bowl, add the 1/2 tsp water and stir well until combined.  Add cornstarch mixture to the apricot mixture and turn heat up to med/ high heat while stirring.  Stir until the mixture starts to thicken (about 2 minutes) and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and pour half of the thickened mixture into pie crust.  Add the halved apricots and pour the rest of the thickened  mixture over the halves. 

 

Add the top crust and bake for about 40-45 minutes until bubbly and nice and browned.  Remove pie, sprinkle top with a light layer of sugar and broil for a few minutes until it starts to caramelize. (Watch this step, don't leave the pie.  Keep the door cracked open slightly and turn if necessary.) If you have a torch, you can do it that way instead of broiling.  Cool pie on counter for about 35 minutes to an hour.  It should still be slightly warm to serve.

 

Find me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram too...

 

 

*This recipe and the others on my site are all my creations, made by me, in my home and photographed by me.  Please make them, enjoy them and share them but when you do, please give credit where credit is due.  My Delicious Vegan Diary Thanks You! And please, let me know how you like it.

Blessings~

My trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

Some of the best tasting fruit from markets on the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia

 

Tomato Lime Bruschetta

I just returned from Croatia and Italy.  Wow, what an amazing trip I was able to take with my BFF.  She convinced me that if I bought my flight, she'd pay for hotels and we'd travel, experience the amazing foods and see some amazing historical sites.  I'm still in disbelief that I went and that it wasn't just a dream. 
While driving around Europe, we decided to head to Venezia (Venice, Italy) and see the sights.  Since I'm Italian, Italy was like a little kid finding her birth parent for the first time.  I was just speechless! The sights, the feeling, the aromas and the tastes!  One super spectacular but easy lunch we had was bruschetta.  It was nice, light and flavorful.  It had beautiful basil and fabulous olive oil. It was served on a simple piece of toast cut into triangles, nothing glamorous but yet so delightful. It was also served with a few carrot shavings for color. 
So then on my flight home from Europe, I had a pasta with marinara and lime.  I was intrigued.  I have never put lime in my marinara and wouldn't have dreamed of it.  Perhaps because this flight was a flight out of Germany, it's a common thing there but I really don't know.  But I tried it and really liked it. Then it came to me...
I decided to merge two of the meals I had in Germany and Italy and make a Tomato Lime Bruschetta.  And guess what?
It worked!

Tomato Lime Bruschetta
Plain toast or toasted french baguette slices
3 Roma tomatoes and a yellow tomato (or your favorite selection) diced small, draining as much of the seeds and liquid as possible.
2-3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp zest of lime (chopped super fine)
Juice from half of a lime
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and put a generous amount on toast. Eat. Dream of Italy.  It's that easy.

 Bucket list~ Venice..I finally made it there.