Vegan Tex-Mex

Black Bean Enchiladas with Vegan Queso Sauce and Spanish Rice
 

This recipe does require some prep work. I used a one pound bag of dried black beans and made beans my usual way with a little vegetable bouillon, lightly seasoned with chili powder, cumin, garlic, and salt. Then I turned the beans into Chili by draining the liquid, sauteing onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Adding the drained black beans, and tomatoes, green chile peppers and corn. So far that was two meals, but I wanted to stretch it a little further. I diced some fresh zucchini. Put the zucchini in a colander and sprinkle salt over it to drain off the excess liquid. Saute the zucchini with minced onion, garlic, and pepper. Add the chili and you have an excellent enchilada filling.

For a sauce I used the following

2 cups Vegan Mushroom Broth
1/2 cups Water
1 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 Tbsp Earth Balance Margarine (soy free if you are allergic to soy or just double the Olive Oil)
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Flour
1 cup Red Star Nutritional Yeast

In a large spouted bowl or very large liquid measuring cup combine broth, water, coconut milk, and soy sauce. In a small bowl have oregano, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper measured and waiting. Have the flour and nutritional yeast measured and separate from everything else.
In a large saucepan heat oil and margarine over medium heat. Add flour and stir continuously to prevent lumps. Let the mixture bubble while stirring for about a minute, then add liquid and spices. Continue stirring until smooth and thickened. Add nutritional yeast continue stirring until mixture is smooth and thickened like a gravy. You can use the sauce immediately or refrigerate for later use.

Making the corn tortillas is very easy as long as you have a tortilla press and a cast iron griddle.

2 cups Masa Harina
1&1/4 cup Warm Water
1/2 tsp Salt

Stir water into the masa and salt. Knead dough with hands for about 2 minutes. Divide dough into 12 balls. Cover with damp towel. Bring griddle up to temperature. If a cool drop of water dances when dropped on the griddle it is ready. Press tortilla and place on griddle. Cook 1 minute on each side and place in a towel lined tortilla warmer. Repeat until all tortillas are waiting in the warmer.

For enchiladas fill tortillas with black bean and zucchini mixture. Top with queso sauce. You can heat on plates or roll all the tortillas with filling topping with queso, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until warm and bubbling. If you are having trouble rolling the enchiladas, you can put a layer of queso on the bottom of a casserole pan, place a single layer of tortillas over the sauce, pour filling over the tortillas, layer remaining tortillas, and finish with a layer of queso sauce. Bake at the same temperature and for the same length of time. As a casserole or as enchiladas it is still delicious. I will post the Spanish Rice recipe later.