December « 2009 « Low Fat Vegan Cooking

December 30, 2009

Baked Mushrooms

Filed under: Higher Calorie Density, Side Dishes — admin @ 1:01 am

Baked Mushrooms

For years, i have had baked stuffed mushrooms as part of my Christmas lunch. I don’t remember where i first had them, but i know i spent some years perfecting the recipe based on what I remembered having had. The mushrooms bake and are wonderfully juicy and the filling is savory and a perfect compliment to the mushrooms. It was loaded with oil. This has no oil, but the same basic ingredients. Originally, the mushrooms were filled with a vegetable/ bread crumb mixture. Without oil, i found it worked better to slice the mushrooms and put them in a casserole with the vegetable part of the stuffing, and put the bread crumbs on top to brown. I made this dish with some dried mixed mushrooms that we got at CostCo – morels, shiitake, porcini, Brazilian, ivory portabellas, and oyster mushrooms. You can make it with any mushrooms. Next time, i want to try just portabellas.

My friend Melissa said it would be good as a stuffing. I think the flavors would compliment a nice winter squash, and boy would that look nice, too.

I used shallots, which have a more subtle flavor than white onions, and don’t over power the mushrooms, but red onion or even white onion would work.

Baked Mushrooms

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about 25 minutes
Can be made ahead

Mushroom mix:
6 c. mushrooms, any kind
6 shallots or 1 ½ onions
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 carrots

Bread mix:
2 slices whole wheat or gluten free bread
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried marjoram
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried sage
1 t. dried thyme
1/8 t. or more ground black pepper
½ t. salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Sauté mushrooms, shallots, and garlic in ½ c. water until tender, about 10 minutes. Mince carrots – you want them to be a seasoning for the mushrooms, not a featured vegetable. Add them to the mushroom mix and cook until tender, about 7 minutes.

Crumble the bread, and mix in the herbs – a food processor works well for this.

Put the mushroom mix in a casserole or baking dish and top with the bread mix, smoothing the crumbs to the edges. Bake about 30 minutes, until crumbs are browned, but watch so they don’t get too dark.

Serve as a side dish or over vegetables. Good with baked potatoes and cauliflower, zucchini, red pepper, carrot, and kale.

Nutritional information- not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 180 calories/6.7 g protein (14.8%)/1.3 g fat (1.3%)

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December 28, 2009

Stollen – Cherry Whole Wheat Sweet Bread

Filed under: Breads, Breakfast, Feasts, Higher Calorie Density, Holidays — admin @ 1:01 am

Stollen - Cherry Whole Wheat Sweet Bread

My friend Heidi was thinking about having Stollen for New Year’s Day, so i decided to post this, even though to me Stollen is a Christmas bread, and i was planning to post this in early December of next year. So Heidi, this is for you, and i hope it will start a new tradition of New Year’s Stollen. Or… how about spring Stollen?

My mother has made Stollen for Christmas morning as far back as i can remember. She made it with candied cherries, and later, i made it with candied cherries and dried apricots. This year i thought i would try it with less sugar, and made it with thawed frozen sugarless cherries. It was great!

As a friend reminded me, kneading is hard when you haven’t done it before. It gets easier, and then you, or at least i forget that it was ever hard. But you have to knead bread regularly before you develop the right muscles. Don’t let this deter you. The bread will be worth it. I used to make bread about every week, but now i only make it about once a month, but i can still knead it, although not as easily as when I did it all the time.

My mother says:

“For many years, I have kneaded bread on the floor — on a bread
board, placed on towels. I started doing this when my children were
small so they could watch and participate. I would give the child a
small piece of dough to knead, but periodically I would switch the
child’s piece with a new piece broken off of the big mass I was
kneading and work the child’s old one into the big mass, so it ended
being well kneaded. In later years I continued kneading on the floor
so I could kneel over the board and put my whole weight behind the
kneading. Now I think I would get too tired, or not knead it with
the “force” necessary, if it wasn’t on the floor for me to bend over it!

I actually did many other cooking procedures on the floor so the
young child could easily watch and participate.”

I decorated the stollen with raspberries and basil leaves. The bread inside is a brownish red, like Georgia’s soil.

Stollen

Makes about 12 servings
Preparation about 25 minutes
Freezes okay
Best served the day it’s made, but it can be made ahead – you might want to decorate it just before serving

½ c. warm water – 108 degrees
1 package active yeast
¾ c. vegan milk
½ c. sugar
½ t. salt
1 c. fresh or frozen cherries
4 c. whole wheat pastry flour

Be sure to have the flour at room temperature, if you refrigerate your flours. Warm the water and the vegan milk. On my stove, this takes about 1 ½ minutes. If you get either too hot, measure out half of it and mix with cold water or vegan milk, depending on which you are cooling. Warm the cherries, too, if they are cold. Stir the yeast into the warm water and let bubble about 10 minutes.

Mix the sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Add the cherries. Add the flour and mix well. I usually use my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix bread instead of kneading it. If you are going to knead the bread, put it on a floured board. Knead about 10 minutes.

My mother told me that at this point you can refrigerate the dough over night, so you can have fresh bread for breakfast. I haven’t tried it, but she is always right. Take it out when you first get up, and put it on or in a pan, as directed below, and let it rise – probably about an hour and a half, since it was cold.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, and form the bread into a loaf, and cover it with a damp cloth. Or you could use a loaf pan, but then you need to oil it. Put the bread dough in a warm place. I put it next to the stove, if i’m using it, or the heater, in the winter. In the summer i put it outside or in a room where the insulation isn’t as good, and it gets hot. Bread will rise if it is cooler, but it rises slowly. In a 70 degree room, it usually rises in an hour to double.

When the bread is almost doubled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it and is browner than the dough was.

When cool ice with:

2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 T. vegan milk
Green or red food coloring for Christmas, if desired

Decorate with cherries, or raspberries, holly leaves or basil leaves, or flowers, or whatever your heart dictates.

Keeps a couple of days, but is best the first day, or frozen until a couple of hours before serving – depending on how large the loaf is, or whether it is sliced.

Nutritional information- not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 259 calories/6.3 g protein (9.7%)/1.1 g fat (3.8%)

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December 26, 2009

Pasta with Three Greens and Tofu Cheeze in Tomato Mushroom Sauce

Filed under: Feasts, Higher Calorie Density, Main Dishes — admin @ 1:05 am

Three Greens Pasta

My mother sent me this basic recipe, which i’ve adapted to be lower fat. The original recipe really had three greens in it, although it sounds like something i would have done.

After i cooked what i planned for Christmas early so i could post it on LFVC, i thought for a moment if i wanted to cook and eat it again, and i decided that i would try something different. I thought about different recipes, and thought the red and green of this dish would be Christmassy. And it’s really good, special enough for Christmas, or birthdays, or company.

The tomato sauce is my own recipe, which i have been making for at least 2 decades. You might want to double it, and freeze some for another dish.

I could not find whole wheat lasagna noodles, so i used whole wheat pasta shells. Maybe this will eventually lead me to making my own pasta. I’ve looked at pasta machines, but i’ve read that whole wheat pasta is easier to make by hand, especially vegan whole wheat pasta.

Italian Tomato Sauce

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

1 large onion, about 1 1/2 c. chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
10 mushrooms, about 1 1/2 c. chopped
½ c. water
14.5 oz. (1 1/2 c.) diced tomatoes, or tomato sauce, unsalted
3 oz. tomato paste
1 1/2 t. dried or 2 T. fresh oregano
1 T. dried or 1/4 c. fresh basil
11/2 t. dried or 2 T. fresh marjoram
1 ½ t. dried or 2 T. fresh sage
1 ½ t. dried or 2 T. fresh thyme
1 ½ t. dried or 2 T. fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
½ t. salt (optional)
¼ t. or more ground black pepper
1 ½ t. sugar
1/2 c. water if sauce is used for pasta, or no more water if used for pizza

Sauté the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in ½ c. water for about 10 minutes, until quite tender and translucent. Mince the herbs, if you are using fresh ones.

Add the tomato sauce, herbs, salt and pepper, and water, if necessary. Cook about 45 minutes, until flavors are well blended. Take the bay leaves out before serving.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 85 calories/1 g protein/.3 g fat

Pasta with Three Greens and Tofu Cheeze

Makes 4 large servings
Preparation, not including tomato sauce – 35 minutes
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

Pasta:
2 c. or 4 oz. whole wheat pasta or lasagna

Cook according to package directions. Drain. Set aside.

Tofu Cheeze:

14 oz. firm tofu, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 ½ T. red wine vinegar
1 ½ t. maple syrup
¼ c. fresh basil, chopped

Put all ingredients in the food processor and process until mixed, but still grainy, like ricotta. Set aside.

Greens:

1 stalk broccoli
½ bunch kale, about 3 c.
1 bunch or 2 c. frozen, but thawed, spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 T. red wine vinegar

Chop the broccoli and greens into bite sized pieces. Cook the broccoli and garlic with a little water about 3 minutes, until bright green and slightly tender. Add the greens, and cook about 2 minutes, until wilted. Do not overcook, as the greens will cook more in the oven. Drain the vegetables and mix in the vinegar.

Other ingredients:

4 c. tomato sauce (see recipe above)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread about 1 c. of tomato sauce in the bottom of a large casserole or 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Layer half the pasta on top of the sauce. Then layer all the vegetables. Layer about 2 c. of tomato sauce, and the rest of the pasta. Cover this with the tofu cheeze, spread to the edges. Top with the remaining tomato sauce, about 1 c.

Bake about 35 minutes, until the tofu peeking through is slightly browned.

Adapted from Lasagna with Tofu-Cotta from Martha Devine in The Arcata Eye Spring 2009.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 339 calories/21.5 g protein (25.4%)/7.1 g fat (18.7%)

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Hello Readers and Friends

Filed under: Uncatagorized — admin @ 1:05 am

Hello Readers and Friends:

I hope you had a happy Christmas, or a day of rest for those of you not celebrating.

Today I begin a new schedule. I plan to post on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the foreseeable future, baring emergencies, the flu, migraines, and other acts of God.

On Wednesdays i will try to have something that is low fat, but not as low in calorie density as what i posted most of the first 55 days since LFVC began. These dishes may feature a starch such as corn tortillas or whole wheat or rice pasta, rather than the very low calorie density potatoes, quinoa, sweet potatoes, or brown rice that i used in most of my posts so far. Some of the recipes will have some almond or rice milk, which has a higher calorie density, although it is lower in fat and protein than the soymilk i sometimes use for more of a feast. Of course as i find more delicious dishes with the later starches, i will share them.

On Saturdays, as i have been doing on Sundays, i will post a richer, higher calorie density dish, or a fancier meal. I plan to usually include a dessert. Of course it is not wise to have so much sugar and fat every week. My purpose is that i hope, over time, to build up a library of recipes that we can use for special occasions and guests. Saturday is the day i usually have a Cooking Day, and make a fancier dinner or try a new recipe, bean soup for the week, and gluten free bread and/or pancakes for my husband. I will keep this practice in my posting, although i will actually post the meal we had last Saturday, if all goes well.

Thank you for reading Low Fat Vegan Cooking. May you live in compassion and health.
Raven Redwood

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Tomato Basil Salad Dressing

Filed under: Gluten Free, Low Calorie Density, Salad Dressings — admin @ 1:03 am

Tomato Basil Dressing

Here is a simple, fast salad dressing that goes especially well with Italian cooking. It isn’t pretty, but it is delicious.

Tomato Basil Salad Dressing

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about 10 minutes
Can be made ahead

1 ½ c. tomato puree
3 T. red wine vinegar
4 t, maple syrup
½ c. fresh basil, chopped
1 ½ t. Dijon mustard
½ t. salt (optional)
1/8 t. or more ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree.

A possible salad might include lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, diced cucumber, and thin red pepper rings.

Adapted from The Garden of Vegan by the incomparable Sarah Kramer

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 58 calories/1.6 g protein (11%)/0 fat

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Berry Crisp

Filed under: Desserts, Feasts, Higher Calorie Density — admin @ 1:02 am

Raspberry or Blackberry Crisp

The beautiful bowl in this picture was a Christmas present from my Uncle Larry.

When we found fresh raspberries in Costco in December, i started thinking of desserts i could make. Raspberry crisp was the first to come to my mind.

My first try was not a success. When we went back for more raspberries, we found they were gone, but there were some fresh blackberries, so we go those.

I was very pleased with my second crisp, and hope you will be too. It’s good cold or warm.

I used my coffee/spice grinder to make the almond meal, but you can also buy it. I’ve seen it in the gluten-free section of Whole Foods.

Raspberry or Blackberry Crisp

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about 10 minutes
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

4 c. fresh or frozen thawed raspberries or blackberries
¼ c. quick tapioca
2 T. vegan sugar
½ c. quick oats
½ c. whole wheat pastry flour
½ c. vegan sugar
¼ c. almond meal
1 t. almond extract

Mix berries with 2 T. sugar and tapioca. If they have no juice, heat them for a couple of minutes. Set aside 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the topping. Mix together the oats, flour, 1/2 c. sugar, and almond meal. Stir in the almond extract and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 375°.

When the 15 minutes are up for the berries and tapioca to start thickening, put the berries in an 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking pan or similar size casserole, or 4 individual baking dishes. Top with the oatmeal mix and smooth it to the edges, being careful not to raise any berries to the top.

Bake about 30 minutes, until topping is light brown, and berries are bubbling around the edges.

Cool slightly and store or serve.

I looked at several crisp recipes for this, including The New McDougall Cookbook and Betty Crocker. In the end, i pretty much went my own way.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 341 calories/8.9 g protein (10.4%)/5.6 g fat (14.8%)

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December 25, 2009

Tempeh with Mushrooms in Tomato Wine Sauce and Rosemary Risotto

Filed under: Feasts, Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Main Dishes — admin @ 1:01 am

Tempeh in Tomato Wine Sauce with Rosemary Risotto and Broccoli

Our Solstice meal this year was an adaptation of two very wonderful recipes from the superb Vegan Yum Yum, the one vegan website i have actually read all of. Lauren is a very talented cook, and has a cookbook out this year too, which i put on my Christmas wish list. None of her dishes are low fat, in fact some are frighteningly high, but the combination of ingredients is worth the trouble of adapting.

The first recipe is an adaptation of Osso Buco, an Italian dish of veal. Tempeh substitutes quite deliciously and compassionately. The dish is usually served with risotto, as it is here. For as fancy a meal as this is, it takes a relatively short time to make.

If you can’t afford the saffron in the risotto, you can color the rice with a fourth teaspoon of turmeric. Fresh rosemary really makes a difference here.

The recipe only calls for 4 ounces tempeh, to keep the protein and fat down. You could use the whole package of tempeh, or it freezes well, and for several months.

Wine cooks down and looses most of its alcohol, leaving behind an irreplaceable taste. You could use a non-alcohol wine, or you could use stock or water, but then it wouldn’t be risotto, just healthy.

Tempeh with Mushrooms and Tomato Wine Sauce

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about 30 minutes
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

½ block of tempeh, 4 ounces
1 onion
25 mushrooms, white or cremini, about 4 c.
1 c. white wine
1 c. water
4 carrots
2 T. tomato paste
1 T. low sodium tamari
2 T. whole wheat flour

Slice the onion and mushrooms, and dice the tempeh. Cook over medium heat in wine and water for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sliced carrots, and heat an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomato paste and tamari, and heat 5 minutes, stirring often.

Sprinkle the flour over the tempeh mixture, and gently stir it in. Heat 5 more minutes.

Serve with risotto, recipe below.

Adapted from Not-so Buco from Vegan Yum Yum

Rosemary Risotto

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about 15 minutes
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

1 large onion
1 c. brown rice
1 t. saffron threads (optional)
1 T. fresh rosemary
½ c. water
½ c. white wine
2 c. water
½ t. salt
1/8 t. or more ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Chop onion and cook in ½ c. water in an oven-proof pan about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add rice, rosemary and optional saffron, and stir about 5 minutes, until liquid is absorbed.

Add water, optional salt, and pepper. Cover and cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

Serve with extra rosemary garnish, if desired.

Adapted from Saffron Rosemary Risotto from Vegan Yum Yum

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 207 calories/4.1 g protein (7.9%)/1.4 g fat (6.2%)

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December 24, 2009

Moroccan Vegetables

Filed under: Gluten Free, Low Calorie Density, Main Dishes — admin @ 1:01 am

Moroccan Vegetables with Preserved Lemon

About a month ago there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a chef from Morocco who used the flavors of his native land in some of his cooking. I was intrigued, and Googled Moroccan recipes. I made a list of the spices and vegetables commonly used, and noted that a lot of recipes used preserved lemons.

So I got some lemons, cut them up and salted each layer, as i saw in a recipe from Alice Waters, and waited.

You were supposed to wait maybe six weeks. I tried them at two weeks. They were good, quite lemony but with a milder flavor than unpreserved lemons. But they were traditionally served in quarters with Moroccan food. I had thought that too big and cut them in eighths. I made my dish and stirred the lemons in. I took a bite… and pulled them out and put them to the side of the bowl and took tiny bites with a forkful of the vegetables. I thought they would be better chopped up very small, and maybe just a teaspoon used in a whole dish. I tried that – a lot less lemony flavor, but you don’t have to chew a whole mouthful at once. I leave it up to you. They take almost no time to make, and you can just shake them as you walk by every day. But you have to wait. And then you have to decide how much of a good thing you really want.

Two traditional Moroccan foods i didn’t use are lentils and couscous. Both would be good in this dish. You could also use sesame seeds or tahini if you wanted the extra fat.

Saffron has a delicate flavor. It is very expensive, about $6 for a teaspoon. Most recipes I find use 1/8 teaspoon, which is hard to taste, especially if you don’t taste it plain while you are cooking, and know what to look for. Saffron does give a nice yellow color to a dish. So does turmeric. It’s a common ingredient in Moroccan cooking, but i’m sure only the well-off citizens eat it.

I served Moroccan Vegetables with potatoes, which is not a native vegetable, but then neither is the eggplant, if you go back far enough. Eggplant probably came from India. It was cultivated at least from the 13th century, though. My definition of ethnic food is food that is widely cooked in a region, but i always want to know what they ate before so many ubiquitous foods became available.

I put my first Moroccan meal together… fascinating… and well worth making again. But the lemons? Well, maybe it is an acquired taste.

Moroccan Vegetables

Makes 4 servings
Preparation about 45 minutes, not counting the lemons
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

2 c. water
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 inches fresh ginger, minced
1 t. ground paprika
1 t. saffron (optional, see above)
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. coriander
½ t. turmeric, or more, if not using saffron
¼ t. cinnamon
¼ or more t. ground black pepper
½ t. salt (optional)
1 large eggplant
4 carrots
4 stalks celery
2 medium zucchinis
preserved lemons (recipe follows)
½ c. chopped fresh parsley
½ c. chopped fresh mint

Chop the onion and cook 20 minutes with the spices and ginger. Meanwhile, chop the eggplant and add.

Add the carrots and cook 2 minutes. Add the celery. Cook 2 more minutes. Add the zucchini and cook about 5 minutes until just tender.

The water should be mostly absorbed, but a little broth is good.

Serve on the starch of your choice with preserved lemons, parsley and mint.

Nutritional information_ not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 123 calories/4.9 g protein (16%)/.8 g fat (5.8%)

Preserved Lemons

Preparation about 10 minutes
Preserving at least 2 weeks

Cut two or more lemons in quarters or eighths, and carefully take all the seeds out without ripping up the quarters. Put a layer in a jar. Salt liberally. Continue layering and salting. Cover leave in a cool place and shake the jar every day. Lemons should be submerged in juice after a few days. If they are not, add lemon juice.
Lemons do not require refrigeration, but it is okay. You can wash the salt off the lemons before using.

Calories about 4 per quarter.

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December 23, 2009

Tropical Fruitcake

Filed under: Desserts, Feasts, Higher Calorie Density — admin @ 1:01 am

Tropical Fruitcake

I wanted some dried apricots, and my husband went to the store to look for them for me. He didn’t find them, but he found some other interesting dried fruit, and he called me from the store and read the labels to me, and i asked him to bring me home the chopped dried tropical fruit he found. I was so intrigued by it, i knew i could find something to do with it.

Tropical fruit is usually not a native of the islands we usually think of as tropical. Papaya originally came from tropical America, perhaps Southern Mexico and Central America. It was brought to Panama and the Dominican Republic. Mango came from South Asia especially Burma and East India. It was spread early to Malaya. Pineapple came originally from Southern Brazil and Paraguay. It was brought to Hawaii in the 16th century. Coconut came from Oceania, South Asia or South America. It was probably brought to the Tropics by the first humans. Macadamias came from Queensland, Australia. Cashews came from Brazil.

However, today all these fruits and nuts are grown in the Tropics and thought of as tropical food.

In my many years experimenting with fruitcake, i had some with pineapple, but not just with tropical fruit. But it seemed to me with my new dried fruit that it would make the perfect fruitcake for people who don’t like traditional fruitcake. If you can’t find the mix i used, you might be able to find dried mango, dried papaya, and dried pineapple separately.

When I have time, i peruse the produce section of the store we buy fruit, and the aisles of the health food stores. I read labels and buy new food to try that’s low fat vegan and not extraordinarily expensive, or i store away things in the back of my brain for future cooking. So as i was thinking of tropical fruitcake, i remembered that i had seen some macadamia butter. Since i don’t have a super blender like a Vitamix, i can’t make nut butters at home. So i bought some, in the interests of research. If you can’t find macadamia butter, you might be able to find cashew butter. In a pinch, you can put cashews in a blender, maybe with a little of the juice called for in the recipe. That certainly would be less expensive. Cakes usually are okay without any added fat – just add more pureed fruit.

I spent one Christmas in England. We had a huge fruitcake, which i was told is common there, iced with a simple powdered sugar and water icing. It’s not often you see anything low fat among holiday treats. (I’m sure the cake itself had butter in it.). In Britain, fruitcakes are usually decorated with little plastic figures, using the icing as snow. Since this fruitcake is tropical, i used sea creatures: sea turtle, dolphin, and killer whale.

Tropical Fruitcake

Makes 8 servings
Preparation about 25 minutes
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

¼ c. macadamia or nut butter such as cashew
1 ¼ c. vegan sugar
2 c. dried tropical fruit, chopped
2/3 c. fresh or frozen mango, and/or pineapple and/or papaya, pureed
1 ¾ c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 ½ t. Ener-G egg replacer
1 c. mango and/or pineapple and/or papaya juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the nut butter and sugar. If you are using a mixer, you might need to scrape the sides, as the mixture tends to stick to them and not blend into the flour, when you add that.

Add the pureed fresh fruit and mix well.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg replacer into the mixing bowl. Mix until blended.

Add the dried fruit and mix. Add the juice(s) and mix in.

Pour into 12 muffin cups with paper liners, a lightly oiled loaf pan, , or oiled small individual pie tins, glass cups, etc.

Bake loaf about 60 minutes, and smaller fruitcakes about 25 minutes.

If desired, ice with:

2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. vegan milk or water or juice

Mix and ice right away. Garnish with little plastic animals or reserve some of the dried fruit for garnish. Let the icing dry before storing.

Nutritional information calculated for using all pureed mango and all mango juice, and using a muffin tin lined with paper liners – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 242 calories/3.1 g protein (5%)/3.8 g fat (14.3%)
One serving with icing – 322 calories/3.4 g protein (4.2%)/3.8 g fat (10.6%)

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December 22, 2009

Black Bean Yam and Spinach Burritos

Filed under: Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Main Dishes — admin @ 1:01 am

Black Bean Yam and Spinach Burritos on Whole Grain Corn Tortillas with Avocado Guacamole

Burritos are a staple in many vegan diets. Here’s a new one, with yams, black beans, spinach, and the typical Mexican seasonings you find in all kinds of burritos. I like that these burritos have no tomato in them.

Did you know that most of what we call yams are really sweet potatoes? We call the orange flesh sweet potatoes we commonly buy yams, but yams are actually a different species. They’re good, though, if you find them. What I mean by yam in this recipe is the common orange-fleshed sweet potato.

I include an avocado guacamole with this. If you want to keep the fat content lower with this meal, try the sweet pea guacamole from the 11/16/09 Mexican Fiesta post.

Black Bean Yam and Spinach Burritos

Makes about 4 servings
Preparation about 55 minutes
Freezes well
Can be made ahead

4 whole grain corn tortillas
1 medium yam
1 c. cooked black beans
½ c. water
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
4 t. dried chilies, hot or mild
3 t. ground cumin
½ t. salt (optional)
1 t. onion powder (optional)
1 t. garlic powder (optional)
3 c. frozen or 9 c. fresh chopped spinach

Boil peeled, chopped yam about 10 minutes, or microwave it whole, about 15 minutes. When done, drain or peel. Mash with a fork, potato masher, or food processor, with 1 t. dried chilies, 1 t. ground cumin, and if you want, ½ t. both garlic and onion powder.

Mash the beans with 1 t. dried chilies, 1 t. ground cumin, and if you want, ½ t. both garlic and onion powder.

Sauté the onion and garlic with 2 t. dried chilies, 1 t. ground cumin, and optional salt, in ½ c. water, about 10 minutes until tender. Add the spinach and cook about 3 minutes if fresh, or 5 minutes if frozen, until tender and bright green.

Heat tortillas in a non-stick skillet 20 minutes per side, or microwave them about 1 ½ minutes. Cover the tortillas to keep them warm if there is any delay.

If you can, spread all the warm tortillas out so you can make everything come out even. Otherwise, put about 1 – 2 T. of the yam mix, 1 -2 T of the bean mix, and 2 – 3 T. of the spinach mix on top of each other in layers in the middle of the tortillas, and roll up the tortillas.

You can reheat the burritos in a 350 degree oven about 20 minutes.

Serve, if desired, with avocado or sweet pea guacamole. Avocado guacamole recipe follows.

Adapted from Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos in La Dolce Vegan by the fantastic Sarah Kramer.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 290 calories/13.2 g protein (18.2%)/3 g fat (9.1%)

Avocado Guacamole

Makes 8 servings
Preparation about 15 minutes
Can be made slightly ahead

1 avocado
1 tomato and/or
½ red pepper
½ red onion
1 large lime
¼ t. salt
¼ c. fresh cilantro

Cut up the avocado and mash with fork or potato masher. Dice the tomato and/or red pepper and red onion, and add. Add the juice of one lime, salt, and chopped cilantro. Mix well. Store covered.

Adapted from a recipe from my friend Melissa.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:
Per serving – 98 calories/2 g protein (8.2%)/7.7 g fat (70.7%)

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