Vegan MoFo: budget-friendly recipes

I’ve mentioned a few times that the bf and I are on a pretty tight budget this year. So I’ve been making efforts to cut our food costs…we’re both foodies and if given free reign in the grocery store our bill would be astronomical. Yet we don’t want to eat a can of beans for dinner every night. If you surf the internet you will find tons of sites that share some food budgeting tips…and they’re all fairly similar: buy dried beans and cook/freeze them, buy frozen veggies rather than fresh, buy in bulk when you can, etc. And these tips do work, but I thought for today, as I have no food to MoFo about, I would share with you some of my favourite cheap(er) recipes.

East Indian food is a budget staple for us. Thankfully we both adore it. I’ll usually make a curry of some sort and serve with basmati rice. If I have extra time I will whip up some naan, but that doesn’t always happen. Some of our favourites are this recipe for dhal, the red lentil curry from Veganomicon, bean curry, and naan. I also make chana masala a lot but I have yet to find the one perfect recipe.

Mexican food is another great genre of cuisine. I adore Mexican food, the bf is only so-so on it, so this doesn’t get made quite as often. I will make up a giant batch of enchiladas and freeze the leftovers. You can vary the filling based on what is in your pantry…beans, seitan, peppers, corn, whatever. Tortilla stew is another recipe that is really versatile, put whatever random things you have in your kitchen in there (within reason)! It also freezes quite well.

Seitan – you don’t need to buy fancy, expensive mock meats. In fact, most of that stuff is overly processed and full of additives. Learn to make seitan. You’ll probably have to experiment to find out what you really like. I prefer baked seitan, but lots of people boil it. Some great seitan fake-meat type things to try are vegan deliciousness: seitan Vegan Dad’s chickenless wings and Susan V’s seitan ribz. Even meat eaters love these recipes.

Mexican Polenta

We haven’t gone grocery shopping in forever, which means our fridge is pretty bare. Which also means that dinner had to be made with pantry ingredients. I was inspired by this recipe from VegWeb. However, I thought that it sounded a tad bland and surely we could jazz it up a bit. Here’s what I came up with.

Mexican Polenta

Polenta Ingredients:
-6 c. water
-2 c. cornmeal
-2 tsp. salt
-freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
-1 tsp. cumin
-1 tsp. oregano
-1/2 tsp. cilantro
-1 tsp. paprika
-a few dashes hot sauce
-1/4 c. nutritional yeast

Topping Ingredients:
-1 tbsp. oil
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
-3/4 c. salsa (I used a chipotle salsa which I adore, but use whatever you want)
-1 tbsp. chili powder
-1 1/2 tsp. paprika
-1/2 tsp. cayenne
-1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
-1-2 drops liquid smoke (if you adore liquid smoke like I do)
-a few dashes of hot sauce, if desired
-1/2 c. frozen corn kernels

1. Bring 6 cups water and salt to a boil. Add cornmeal. Lower heat and stir until the polenta starts to pull away from the sides of the pot and the whisk stands straight up in the polenta. Add the spices and seasonings and nutritional yeast listed above. Taste the polenta and make sure it is seasoned to your liking. Spoon the polenta into a greased casserole dish and let cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Slice the polenta into 9 squares (or however else you want to slice it). Place polenta on a cookie sheet and bake each side for 10-15 minutes (until the outside is as done as you would like).

3. While the polenta is baking, heat oil in a saucepan. Add onion and saute until tender. Add beans, salsa, spices, and seasonings. Taste the mixture and adjust to suit your preferences. Let simmer 5-10 min. Add frozen corn kernels and let simmer an additional 10 minutes. To serve, spoon the topping over the polenta.

More East Indian Yumminess

We’re going to be on a tight budget this winter. When we looked at what we spent on food in a month it was a bit ridiculous. Such is the problem when two foodies come together. Anyhoo, so I am taking on the job of planning our menus for each night based on ingredients we have in the cupboards. Good thing we both love curries.

Anyhoo, so last night we had this dhal recipe from Veg Web. It’s pretty good as written, but I always add extra spices and what-not. Usually I don’t make the same Indian recipe twice, but that one I think is my “go to dhal recipe.”

To go with the lentils, I tried out a recipe for butter chickpea curry. I used soymilk instead of milk and that worked out fine. But I’m not sure if it’s the type of tomato soup I’m using or what, but it was too sweet for us (yes it’s unsweetened soymilk). So I added some hot sauce, and then we were left with this sweet & spicy concoction. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve made better chickpea curries and probably wouldn’t make it again.

To go with it, homemade parathas:

Very “Cheesy” Enchiladas

I thought I had given up on making homemade tortillas, but I heard so many rave reviews over this recipe that I thought I would try it one last time. They were unlike any tortilla I have ever had…they kind of reminded me of a cross between a tortilla and naan…but that’s not a complaint. I ended up eating two right on the spot. Next time I guess I will make a huge batch and freeze them. I couldn’t tell you if they are authentic or not…but they suit this Canadian just fine.

So what does one make with homemade tortillas? Enchiladas! Complete with homemade enchilada sauce. I’ve made that sauce a number of times, it freezes extremely well.

So on to the enchiladas….I based my recipe on this one from Vegweb. These are very versatile…you can throw whatever you please into the filling.

Vegan “Cheese” Enchilada

-1 can enchilada sauce
-10 tortillas
-1 red hot chili pepper (for garnish, or alternatively you could use olives or whatever you please)

Cheese Sauce:
-1/2 c. flour
-1/2 c. nutritional yeast
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. garlic powder
-1 1/2 c. water
-2 tsp. yellow mustard
-2 tbsp. vegan margarine

Filling:
-2 c. beans (whatever kind you like…I used black beans and kidney beans)
-1 c. ground round (I used homemade ground seitan from Vegan Vittles – if you don’t want to use this just add more beans)
-1 small white or yellow onion, minced
-2 jalapeños, seeded and minced
-3 green onions, sliced
-1/2 c. salsa
-2 tbsp. chili powder

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. In saucepan over medium heat, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. Add water. Whisk to combine. Stir constantly as sauce boils and thickens. When thickened, remove from heat and add mustard and margarine.

2. Spray skillet with cooking spray. Add onion and saute until soft. Add jalapeño and green onion. Saute for a few more minutes. Add ground round (if using) and beans. Add salsa and chili powder. If filling is sticking to skillet, add some water. Saute over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Add half of the cheese sauce to the filling and stir.

3. In a casserole dish, cover bottom with enchilada sauce. Take each tortilla, spoon some filling in it, and roll it up. Place in the casserole dish seam side down. When done, cover the enchiladas with the rest of the enchilada sauce. Next, cover them with the rest of the cheese sauce. Add your garnish if you are using.

4. Bake 35-45 minutes in oven, until top starts to brown. They will be extremely hot so you should probably let them sit for a few minutes before you dig in.

I’ve made huge batches of this before and froze the leftovers. This works fairly well. I just reheat in the microwave.

east indian feast…

The other night we decided to have East Indian food. I used to cook it quite a bit, but for some reason I haven’t in a few months. *shrug* Anyhoo, I wanted to try out red lentil cauliflower curry from Veganomicon. I used frozen cauliflower, as I remembered I had some stowed away in my freezer that I completely forgot about. As always when cooking this type of food, I tinkered around with the spices a bit until it suited my fancy. I don’t keep track of what I add, I just add some stuff, taste it, and then continue with that until it tastes “right.” The bf really liked this dish too, which actually surprised me. What with the parsnip and the cauliflower and all…I guess the curry just hides the veggie goodness from unsuspecting veggie haters.

I also made a bean curry with a mix of pinto and kidney beans. I guess pinto beans really don’t fit into the theme of the meal, but oh well. I used half a jar (yes, half a jar) of curry paste that a local company makes. We usually go visit them at the farmer’s market, all of their stuff I’ve had so far is magnificent and I can’t rave about them enough. I don’t know if you can their stuff elsewhere though – Chatty’s Indian Spices.

To go with the curries i also made some naan. Unfortunately we were out of basmati rice and I forgot until the last minute, so I had to make just plain old long-grain white rice. Not nearly as good. Note to self: next time make sure you have basmati rice.

Curried Red Lentil Soup

The weather outside is simply horrid…cold, windy, snowing…so I figured it was a perfect night for curried red lentil soup from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. I followed the recipe exactly, with the exception that I omitted the cloves as I don’t have any on hand. The soup was a wee bit runny for my liking, so next time I will add less broth. All in all it was pretty good. I don’t know if I would make it again, but I enjoyed eating it.

Excuse the horrid photo.

Cheesy Bean & Cheese Enchiladas

Tonight I made a big batch of cheesy bean and cheese enchiladas from VegWeb. I made this recipe previously for a potluck. I changed the filling around a bit this time, using pinto beans, kidney beans, ground round, onion, red pepper, and jalapeño. I also used homemade whole wheat tortillas and homemade enchilada sauce.

I love this recipe because it is relatively cheap to make and it freezes extremely well. Even after pigging out I still have lunch for tomorrow and 4 servings to tuck away in the freezer. Excellent.

East Indian Yummyness & New Cookbooks

Last night for dinner I wanted to use up some cauliflower in the fridge so I made aloo gobi from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. It’s the first recipe I’ve used from that book and man is it good…the spices are perfect! I wouldn’t change a thing.

To go with itI made chana masala. That recipe was okay…a wee bit too much lemon juice for my liking. I am incredibly picky with chana masala dishes…I have yet to find a recipe that i loved enough to make twice. I served these dishes along with baked samosas that I bought from a guy at the local farmer’s market months and months ago (frozen of course) and basmati rice.

As a total aside, yesterday my new cookbooks arrived! I was given an Amazon gift certificate for participating in an online survey so what better way to spend it then with new cookbooks? Yes, I JUST bought Veganomicon…and I don’t know why I waited so long, I have a huuuge list of recipes I want to try from that book alone. I haven’t had a chance to look at the other ones yet.

Baked Chimichanga

I had quite a bit of leftovers in the fridge that seemed to scream “make Mexican food!” So that is what I did. I made a baked chimichanga a la Vegan Dad. However, this recipe is quite adaptable and you could probably make it with whatever ingredients you wished.

Here is what I did – basing my recipe on the one posted above:

filling:

• 1/4 c onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeño, diced
• 1/2 c veggie ground round
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp leftover nutritional yeast cheeze sauce (i just had this in my fridge and wanted to use it up)
• 1/2 c refried beans
• 1/4 c salsa

Preheat oven to 450 F. Lightly spray a nonstick cooking pan and saute the onion until soft. Add jalapeno, ground round, and spices. Add some water if mixture begins to stick. Continue cooking over medium heat until mixture is heated through.

Spread the refried beans in the middle of a large (12″) tortilla. add “beef” mixture, then top with salsa. Fold the tortilla and brush lightly with olive oil. Place on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake 20-25 min.

I topped mine with leftover faux sour cream from La Dolce Vegan (which I really don’t care for…wouldn’t use that exact recipe again) and some leftover black olive and green onion. I also had additional salsa on the side because I’m a salsa fiend. Next time I think I will add some more veggies to the filling such as corn and red pepper.

Tamale Bean Pie

So what do you do when you haven’t gone grocery shopping in forever and need a meal that requires hardly any fresh veggies? Well, you could make a tamale bean pie.

It was pretty good…the only change I would make next time is add some hot sauce and crushed red pepper…but I like my Mexican food really spicy.I halved the recipe, as the original served 6, but I think mine would still serve 4 if you had a side-dish. I omitted the green pepper because I didn’t have any on hand, and subbed kidney beans for the pinto beans.