Feb 24, 2013
Wow! It’s been almost a month since our first blog
and what a busy month it has been. What
have we learned this month you ask? For
that, you need some background info. As
foodies, we used to eat out 4 to 5 times a week. We loved to experience different cultures
thru food…heck we still do! Since we
have changed our diet and lifestyle we eat at home, and pack our lunches so we can
control what goes into our food. What we
have learned in the last month since our diet is so clean and healthy, is that eating
out is a painful experience for 2 reasons.
1.) It is much more difficult to find places where we can confidently
order from the menu and know that our entire meal is plant based. 2.) When we do eat out we consistently experience
bloating, upset stomachs and headaches…etc.
I do want to note here that we have found a couple really great vegan
restaurants not too far from where we live and our experiences at both of these
locations were great! One other thing we
noticed is that smells that used to make our mouths water now do quite the
opposite. We happened to be walking past
the meat section of a grocery store the other day where there was an employee
running a taste testing station. The
smell of the meat was over powering and we were so surprised that it was the
complete opposite of appetizing. It was
kind of mind blowing really!
One of our new
rituals is to go every Saturday morning to the local farmers market to
experience the sights, sounds (we love the buskers), smells and the food…oh the
food! We have made a commitment to try a
new fruit or vegetable each week. Last
week it was fennel. Now Mr. Pepper, he
loves black licorice…but me not so much.
The smell is enough to have me running in the other direction. However I’m all for new things so I thought
what the heck! I have been juicing a lot
lately and prepping to do my first juice fast so I tried a green juice with fennel…had
I not thrown some radishes in there because they happened to be on the count, it
likely would have tasted ok. So I will try
it again but sans radishes.
Part of our
journey is trying new recipes…here is one that quickly has become a regular
meal at our house and currently is my personal favorite:
Sweet Potato
and Black Bean Enchiladas
3 large sweet potatoes and cut into
large cubes
1/2 white onion
1 can of organic black beans, or 2 cups freshly cooked
3 tbsp molasses (I use fancy molasses but any kind will do)
1/2 white onion
1 can of organic black beans, or 2 cups freshly cooked
3 tbsp molasses (I use fancy molasses but any kind will do)
1 tbsp almond butter
1-2 tbsp lime juice
1/2-1 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
Black pepper to taste
Herdez Green Salsa (avail at most grocery stores in the Mexican section)
8-10 whole grain tortillas (I have used Kamut as well)
1/2 cup or so Daiya pepper jack or cheddar cheese (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Boil a large pot of salted water, and add the sweet potatoes. Cook till they’re fork tender, and drain and set aside.
Sauté the onion with a few tablespoons of water or some coconut oil spray until they are translucent and starting to brown. Add the sweet potatoes, black beans, molasses, almond butter, lime juice, salt, cumin, chili powder, and black pepper.
Mash with a hand masher or fork till the mixture; leave the mixture a bit chunky.
Assemble your enchiladas by rolling about 1/4-1/3 cup of the filling into each tortillas; lay them side by side in a rectangular baking dish.
Cover them with the entire jar of the Green Salsa.
Sprinkle with Daiya or cheese if using either…you don’t have to use either if you don’t want to. I’m not a fan of the processed vegan cheese so far but wanted to try it.
Bake for about 30 minutes; until the cheese has melted and enchiladas are hot.
Makes 4 to
5 servings of 2 enchiladas each.
Yummy!
