Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo Style Seitan

I lifted this recipe from Aaron Sanchez; he demoed this on Melting Pot some years ago.  My recipe, however, is vegan, cholesterol free, and lower in fat.

You need: 

14 oz of washed and trimmed brussels sprouts

1 package of +UptonsNaturals Chorizo Style Seitan

2.5 oz of +Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Chile powder (optional, for heat)

! tb canola oil

1/2 C water

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a saute pan or wok with canola oil and sprinkle with a dash of salt.  Add your brussels sprouts.  If you washed them right before cooking, make sure you dry them off well; moisture will cause oil splatters.  Cook the sprouts well and try to get black roasty spots on all sides.  Salt well and add the water to steam.  When the sprouts turn bright green, reduce the flame, add seitan, black pepper, chile powder, and stir well.  Bring the heat back up to cook the seitan, then stir in shredded cheese until it melts.  Take off the flame just before the cheese looks gooey.

I serve these with beans and corn tortillas.  This recipe made 5 meals with about 230 Kcal each, including the beans.  These will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days and freezes well for no longer than a month.  

Enmoladas (Enchiladas with Mole)

It's Christmas time so I got a craving for mole.  The mole you see in the picture is Mole Poblano (from Puebla) and is the familiar (Doña Maria in the jar) sauce with chile, spices, and chocolate.  You could also use red, green (pipian) or black mole to cover your enmoladas.

20 medium to large corn tortillas
1 large jar of mole (2 small jars or about 4-6 cups of prepared mole)
Dried Ancho chile powder to taste
White cheese shreds
Veggies for filling
Canola or corn oil
Salt and pepper

First, cook your veggies.  I used zucchini sticks, bell peppers, and portobello slices that i cooked in a saute pan with salt and pepper.  You could also use just cheese, potato, squash, seitan, tofu, or whatever protein you like.  while the filling is cooling, steam your tortillas.  You can cook them on a burner one or two at a time, but steaming them in the micro is easier.

I fried my filled tortillas before baking to bring out the flavor in the tortillas.  You can just fill, roll, and place in your baking dish if you want to reduce the amount of fat in your finished dish, but you'll need cooking spray for the baking dish.  When you can handle both tortillas and filling with your bare hands, start rolling them into little taquitos.  Use toothpicks to keep them from unrolling and fry them until golden brown in a hot frying pan with sufficient oil to cover half of each taquito.

When they're cool enough to handle, take out the toothpicks and place in a baking dish.  Cover the top with shredded cheese, I used +Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack, and tent with foil.  Bake in a 350º oven for 15-20 minutes, just enough to melt the cheese and allow the mole to soak into the tortillas.  Usually I serve these with rice.

Note for IC Diet:  pipian is IC friendly. Please check the label for irritating ingredients or make it from scratch in a food processor. Fillings can include veggies on he safe list, like red bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, potato, etc.  Daiya cheese shreds are a good non-irritating  non-dairy cheese.

Guacamole with Jalapeno

2-4 ripe avocados

1-2 jalapeños for hot, 1/4-1 jalapeño for mild to medium

Vegenaise

Salt

Pepper

Oil

Read this if you need help shopping for avocados How to pick good avocados. I used a small food processor for this sauce, but a blender works too. Cut each avocado in half, remove pit, and scoop flesh into your processor. Add chiles, stem removed, cut into big chunks, seeds removed if you prefer less heat. Use gloves or coat your hands in oil if the chile bothers your skin. Do not touch anything else until you wash your hands well with hot soapy water. Blend until smooth and taste for heat. You can add more chile after you taste the sauce, so start slow with the heat. 

When you get to the heat level you want, add oil (I like limonolio) and a bit of Vegenaise (about 1 tb per avocado). Keep tasting and blending until you have the taste you like. Add salt and pepper last to avoid overseasoning, you may not even need salt. Serve chilled. Keeps in the fridge for a few days if covered in cling film to keep air off the surface of the sauce. Leave the pits in the sauce to help keep from browning.