Friday, June 20, 2008

Going "Vegan"

Tonight, as far as I was concerned, was a boon: I came home from work to find Nate hustling around the kitchen preparing Vegan potato-kale enchiladas, a recipe which comes to us courtesy of my sister Lisa, who made them for me in Kalamazoo. And since it was Nate who did the bulk of the work, I will turn over the blog to him for to describe it:

Hey, what's up, folks? This is Nate comin' at ya with the straight poop on how I used these great ingredients to create an unoriginal dish that I stole from Jen's little sister!

Hit it!



It all starts with some of the red kale we got from our farm share, paired up with some yukon gold potatoes. I washed and dried the kale, peeled and chopped the potatoes. I set the potatoes to boil and set the kale aside.



While the potatoes were boiling I toasted some pepitas over a medium flame. I did not elaborately stack the pepitas into a delicately balanced pyramid as the photo would suggest, but rather sauteed them.



After toasting up the pepitas, I roasted two poblano peppers over an open flame, peeled the skin off of them then sauteed up some garlic and onions in a little olive oil. I then combined some diced tomatoes and seasonings, along with the chopped poblanos, and simmered over low heat.



While the sauce simmered, I sauteed up the kale with a little garlic and then added the boiled potatoes and some additional spices.



After the mixture was done I then pureed the sauce, ladled some into a casserole dish and began forming the enchiladas.



I then baked them at 350 degrees, covered with foil, for 25 minutes before uncovering them and finishing them for an additional 15 minutes.

We served them up with sliced avocado, toasted pepitas and a dollop of sour cream (not pictured). This completely ruined the vegan integrity of our meal but this was of little importance since we began our evening with some assorted cheeses and duck liver pate.



For dessert I made a chocolate ice cream which I added some leftover holiday peppermint bark to. A quick run in the ice cream maker and we were enjoying the mint-chocolatey goodness.



Then, I murdered Jen with the candlestick, in the living room. Thanks to Paul and Caolan for giving us such a useful gift.

Now all I need is an alibi.


Okay, I am rising from the grave to take over the rest of the post. Dinner was delicious -- not as spicy, somehow, as the one Mousie made in Michigan, but still delicious. And while the potatoes, the avocados and the sour cream weren't part of the share, they complemented the kale nicely. So far, one of the most delicious yet, if not the most delicious yet. And also the most labor intensive (for Nate if not for me). Coincidence?

Three days left. Basil plant, bok choy, a scrape or two and a handful of lettuce remain. Suggestions, as always, are welcome ...

3 comments:

Lisa Marie said...

Sour cream on a vegan enchiliada? Saaaaaaad Panda.

However, I'm glad they turned out well!

Jen said...

This is just Jen, by the way -- I need to change the login info. BUT -- the sour cream added a delicious creaminess that offset the salty/sour/spiciness of the potato-kale mixture and the pepper sauce. I would recommend using a vegan sour cream sub next time you make them, you won't be disappointed! Also, adding slices of avocado did the same thing. Maybe a mashed avocado faux creme?

Lisa Marie said...

Since I heart french onion dip, I almost always have some vegan sour cream around, so I will give the sour cream/avocado ideas a try! I also have a recipe for a cilantro faux sour cream that would probably go really well with the enchiliadas too.

Can't wait to see what you get this week, I'll let you know if I have any good receipes(even if they're non-vegan,look how open minded I am!)for this round of produce.