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Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Oh, How Spicy! - Vegan MoFo #22

   Hi Friends!

   Here's another delicious soup recipe to keep you warm during this stormy gray weather.  By the way, Hamilton survived "the worst" of the storm overnight and I hope that other areas were just as lucky.  It looks like our East Coast friends in the States haven't been as lucky and I hope they've seen the worst of it as well.
On with the recipe...
Spicy Tortilla Soup
6-8 Servings

Ingredients
1 pablano pepper
1 15-ounce can tomatoes, preferably no salt added
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons coconut oil, divided
1 medium white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup white hominy
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
sea salt, to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1 ripe large avocado, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese (I used Daiya)
1/2 - 1 lime, juiced (optional)

Directions
  1. Holding the poblano pepper with metal tongs, quickly toast it by turning it an inch or two above an open flame for a few seconds, or place it under the broiler (turning every minute or two) until the skin is slightly charred.
  2. When cool enough to handle, peel, stem and seed the poblano pepper, break it into pieces and put it in a blender along with the tomatoes and their juice.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Transfer the onion and garlic to the blender with the tomato mixture. Process until smooth.
  4. Return the pot to medium heat. When quite hot, add the puree and stir almost constantly until thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes.  Add broth, water, cumin and chilli powder.  Bring to a boil, then adjust heat to maintain a simmer.
  5. Drain tofu, rinse and pat dry; cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and cook in a single layer, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the tofu to the soup and simmer for 30 minutes.
  6. In the last few minutes, stir in the corn and hominy.  When heated through, stir in cilantro leaves and lime juice and serve.  Garnish with some avocado and tortilla strips.

 Love,
Ves xx

Ps: This was inspired by my mom's Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I used to love that soup and one day I will figure out all of the flavors that went into making that soup so delicious (minus the chicken, of course). ;)


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Bake Sale Re-cap!

   It has been so crazy busy these past couple of weeks!  Even though I just had a long weekend I feel like I need another one just to unwind from the first one.  Make sense?
   It was moving day for my sister this weekend so I was busy helping with that.  Plus, we are slowly trying to pack up my parents house as they prepare to move to Nova Scotia... like really soon.  Yikes!  So with all of this craziness I haven't had a chance to post about the outcome of my bake sale!
   First of all the weather was amazing!  The sun was shining and the temp. was warm.  The only downside was that it was a bit windy in our location.  Otherwise, it was a perfect day.  I had tons of sweets made by me, my mom, my aunt, a couple of friends and two small trays donated by a local bakery.

   Here's what some of the goodies looked like:

Shortbread cookies!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Cupcakes!

   We had an amazing turn out and I'm so thankful to everyone who came out and bought yummy treats.  One family actually thought we were a bakery and asked my mom and I if we would make her son's birthday cake.  How flattering!  We had a couple of families that came out twice in one day.  And a few people passed by without knowing we were there so they went back home or to their cars to get money to buy some goodies!
   We raised just over $700 for Snooters Farm Animal Sanctuary and I couldn't be more thrilled with the amount! 
   This was such a wonderful experience and I would definitely participate in this again.  My volunteers were amazing and I couldn't have pulled this together without them.  You should know that I am the worst person for handing out tasks, but these people knew exactly what to do without me having to say anything!  Love them to pieces for being so fabulously intuitive!

Some more goodies...
Peanut Butter Cookies, Almond Cookies, Pignoli Cookies, Chocolate Truffles...

Shortbread, Peanut Butter Truffles and Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Yum, Yum!

Love,
Ves xx

Saturday, May 05, 2012

Let's Have a Fiesta!

   Happy Cinco de Mayo, my friends!  I've been so busy preparing for my Bake Sale that I haven't had a lot of free time to post anything new.  But, there was no way that I was going to let a glorified American holiday Mexican Holiday pass by without a mention!  I grew up celebrating this holiday the way any self respecting American from California would:  I pretended to know what it was about while simultaneously participating in my school's festivals and eating Mexican food.  Ole!  And today is no different!  Except that I no longer live in California, and I know a little bit more about Cinco de Mayo than I did when I was a kid.  FYI:  From what I hear from some of my Mexican friends... no one in Mexico actually celebrates this day.  It's totally Americanized.  But guess what?  I don't care!  Any excuse to eat Mexican food is fine by me!  Pass the vegan Burrito, please!  In fact, that's what's for dinner tonight.


   Unfortunately, I didn't have time to cook, so 'dinner' is a frozen burrito from the "Amy's" line of frozen food.  I've never actually had anything of theirs so I thought I would try the burrito in honor of Cinco de Mayo.  You can microwave this for about a minute or stick it in the oven for 50-55 minutes.  I don't own a microwave so into the oven it went for about an hour.  I must say, even though I was starving by the time this was ready, I much prefer waiting an hour for something that's crispy on the outside and hot on the inside rather than a soggy half hot/half cold burrito from the micro.  No bueno.  Just before the burrito was ready, I whipped up a simple spring salad with tomatoes and a simple lemon vinaigrette topped with nooch and hemp seeds (of course!).

Here's what dinner looked like:
So yummy!
   The burrito was actually really good!  It had a bit of a kick to it which I like because I enjoy spicy food.  If I had an avocado left I would have made guacamole to go with this but, instead I dipped the burrito in some salsa.  It really doesn't need to be dipped in anything though, I just really like salsa! Ha.

   Bake Sale Update:  I've been super busy preparing lists of things to pick up before the marathon baking begins.  I'm happy to say that all of the containers and things have been purchased, flyers have been printed and are being handed out daily, and announcements have been made on FB, Kijiji, and Pinterest. (<--- every little bit helps!)

Sestres Coffee Shop has graciously offered to donate trays of vegan and gluten free goodies!  Yay!!  And starting tomorrow, the Marathon Baking begins!  Tune in throughout the week as I will be posting pictures of the goodies as I bake them. (and maybe a recipe or two as well!)

I hope you are all enjoying Cinco de Mayo in your own fabulous way! 

Adios for now...

Love,
Ves xx
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