Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love soup. I mean what's NOT to love, a pot of wonderful, comforting, warming, deliciousness scooped into a bowl and devoured. I saw this recipe on Skinnytaste - it is a crock-pot,  non-vegan awesome looking recipe. So, here is my version of throw it all in a pot on the stove and make it vegan version.

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups Better Than Bouillon - no chicken broth
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 8-ounce box Westsoy Chicken flavored Seitan Cubes (cut into bite sized pieces)
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions, for topping
• Toffuti sour cream

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add drained beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano and stir.

Add the chicken seitan, cover and cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Add cilantro. Add salt and cumin to taste.  

Serve in bowls and top with sour cream, scallions and cilantro. You can also top with avocado or crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Roasted Caponata

I had lots of fresh veggies in the frig that needed to be prepared before I ended up letting them get past their prime. I hate it when I do that. So this recipe was inspired by one on The Cooking Channel, I didn't change much and it's awesome. I did serve this over some spaghetti noodles to make it a main dish and heated up a few Gardein Chicken Tenders for some protein. I can't wait to eat the leftovers!

This isn't a very good pic, but the dish is awesome.

• 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with their juice
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 summer squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 medium-large Globe eggplant, cut into 1-inch rounds (then cut into quarters so it's large bite size)
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pour the canned tomatoes into a large roasting pan and spread to cover the bottom.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. Pour the vegetables over the canned tomatoes in an even layer.

Cover the roasting pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the edges of the vegetables are golden, about 30 to 40 minutes.

another shitty pic, and you can see we had already dug in when I remembered to take it!

I cooked some spaghetti noodles while this was on it's final roasting stage to serve under the veggies.

Pastitsio

Happy New Year everyone - I'm sorry for the extended absence but the holidays have kept me hopping. Hopefully I'm back on track. I found this recipe in one of my magazines and located the Quick Pastitsio online so that I could provide the original. Below is my vegan version. I'm going to serve this pasta casserole with some garlic bread and red wine for a filling, warming dinner. Serves 4-6

Pastitsio with Garlic Bread

• 8 ounces uncooked penne (I had partial boxes of Rotini, Penne and mini wheels and used them all)
• Cooking spray
• 1 package Gimme Lean Ground Beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 cups of your favorite unsweet vegan milk
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 8- ounce Toffuti cream cheese
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) Diaya mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add Gimme Lean to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove beef from pan.

Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add beef; sprinkle with salt. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Stir in milk, tomatoes, 1/2 of the mozzarella and cream cheese, stirring until smooth; bring to a simmer. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Stir in pasta.

Spoon pasta mixture into a baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Sprinkle with the rest of the over top.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until it's nice and bubbly. Enjoy!