Soyrizo Soft Tacos

Lately, I have not been making too many new dishes. I have been feeling a little mentally tired lately, and have not had too much creative energy. It's really disappointing to lack mental energy, because there are soooo many things that I want to be doing! I have a lot of interests, and I am trying to dig up the creativity to begin working on music and playing the clarinet again. Not only am I mentally exhausted after work, there is simply not enough time to do all of the things that I want to do. For now, I am going to attempt to make more new meals and focus on the music a couple of times per week. Maybe that will change in the future, but I do not want to force myself to do something - I want to enjoy all of my endeavors. :)

Anyway, here are soyrizo tacos. I don't think that I have ever had actual chorizo, but this soyrizo is what I imagine the real thing to taste like. It is so rich and flavorful! I fried the soyrizo in a pan with some olive oil over high heat, so as to char the soyrizo a bit, adding to its authenticy. I then spread it into a corn tortilla (one of the 357 that came in the package I bought) with the usual Mexican accompaniments - lettuce, tomato, avocado, Tofutti sour cream, and some cheese for me. I just can't believe how many corn tortillas came in the package - I have a feeling they will languish in the fridge for quite a while. Good thing I'm not squeamish about expiration dates!

"Chicken" Quesadillas

I am always so proud of myself when I come up with a recipe that is all my own. Granted, someone else somewhere in the world may have at some point thought of it too, however I don't know about it, and that means that it's mine. I was making the wonderful vegan mexican pizzas last night and thought that it might be fun to have something else along with it, a quesadilla perhaps. I had some Morningstar Farms Chicken Strips in the freezer, a few extra tortillas, leftover enchilada sauce from the pizzas, and some Tofutti cream cheese. The lightbulb above my head: visible and flashing. The end result: absolutely delicious.

"Chicken" Quesadillas
Morningstar Farms chicken strips (one bag will make several quesadillas)
1/2 C Tofutti cream cheese
1/4 C enchilada sauce
1 tsp each of garlic, cumin, and paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
tortillas
1 C vegan cheese (I combined Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack and cheddar)

Method:
Combine the cream cheese, enchilada sauce and spices. Saute the chicken in 1 tbl of olive oil until heated through and browned on both sides. Place one tortilla on a cookie and spread the cream cheese mixture across it. Place strips of chicken ontop of the cream cheese mixture, then sprinkle with cheese. I also added a few scallions and jalapenos. Bake in the oven at 450* for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and place another tortilla ontop the mixture. Brush the top tortilla while a light layer of olive oil, and cook for ten more minutes.

Tortas

A few weeks ago, my officemates and I decided to go to Tortas Paquime. We noticed the menu sitting in the lunchroom one day and thought it might be fun to try something new. I was surprised at the mention of "vegetarian" on this menu and therefore became even more excited to try it. Plus, they had waffle fries with melted nacho cheese, and that was the clincher. We thoroughly enjoyed the place, and my torta of avocado, tomato, jalapeno, and mayonnaise was delicious.


I thought to myself, while eyeing my officemates' marinated pork torta, "I could so veganize this." Which I did. I made some bollitos and some beef-flavored seitan. I threw together some chopped romaine lettuce, a mixture of Follow Your Heart cheddar and monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, and chopped jalapeno, then piled the whole mess on the bun, after spreading it with Vegenaise, of course.

Mexican Pizza

I am super excited about this recipe. It mimics the Taco Bell version of the mexican pizza (yes, I know, but just because one is vegan does not necessarily mean that one is healthy) and the part that is best is the flaky tortilla. I played with the idea of frying the tortillas in olive oil on the stovetop, but I do have somewhat of an affinity for my arteries, so opted instead to put them in the oven and bake them (although I did brush them with a not-so-thin layer of olive oil).

Ingredients (to serve two fat people):
olive oil
4 flour tortillas
1 12-oz. can of enchilada sauce
1 12-oz. can of vegetarian refried beans
1 cup veggie ground beef (I used Boca)
1/2 cup each of vegan cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheeses, grated and combined (I used Follow Your Heart)
6 scallions, chopped

Method:
Brush olive oil over tortillas and bake at 400 degrees for approximately ten minutes. They will puff up; this is fine. It is good that way. Remove from oven and dry on brown paper bags or paper towels. When the tortillas have cooled, spread them out on paper towels and assemble as such: spread beans on one tortilla, followed by veggie meat, then enchilada sauce. Place another tortilla on top of this and then place cheese, followed by enchilada sauce, then green onions. Repeat with other two tortillas. Broil in the oven until the cheese has melted as much as it will. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo.