A Very Vegan Christmas! (Original Post Date: Dec. 31, 2012

For the entire week of Christmas, I took the week off from anything that could be considered 'work.' I didn't type a single word of a blog. I also made it a rest week, so I did very light exercise. But for what I didn't do; I sure as heck made up for in the kitchen. I spent nearly 3 days straight (no lie) in the kitchen cooking this holiday, and I didn't make one single traditional holiday dish. But the dishes that I did discover were no less than drool-worthy.

On a side note, I've gotten requests for the calories and macro breakdowns of these recipes, so I have included them here and I will do my best to include them from here on out.

My vegan kitchen took somewhat of a southwestern theme (aside from the dessert posted here) this past week with the following mouth-watering dishes:

For breakfast, I made the most AMAZING vegan breakfast burritos. You don't think it can be done? Try these. If I didn't know any better; I'd think I was eating real deal chorizo and eggs...

Char-Char's Vegan Breakfast Burritos: 

This recipe is really done in multiple parts. It is a bit time consuming but you yield about 8 breakfast burritos so it is a nice one to make and freeze the extras for a rainy day! Serves 8-10.

The first part I prepared was the homefries, which go a little something like this:

Ingredients:

• 4-5 medium sized russet potatoes
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Chop the potatoes into tiny cubes (about 1/2 inch-size). 
3. Toss in a bowl with olive oil and spices to coat well. 
4. Spread on a lightly-greased baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until completely cooked and soft.

Does this look familiar? That's because I used the same spices to season these breakfast homefries as I found in these Sweet Potato and Black Bean Vegan Quesadillas With Avocado Cream Sauce that we tried last week.

While the homefries are baking, you have time to prepare all the other ingredients. My next task was a Tofu Scramble (which doubled as luscious scrambled eggs)...

Ingredients:

• 1 block of extra firm tofu
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a medium sized frying skillet over medium heat
2. Mash the tofu with a fork to give it a 'scrambled' texture
3. Pour tofu and all other ingredients into the hot pan, mix throughly to evenly coat the tofu
4. Cook for 5-10 minutes until tofu begins to brown
5. Remove from pan and set aside

Next, prepare the soyrizo. I'm not saavy enough yet to make my own soyrizo, so I bought some made by El Burrito from my local natural grocery store. I must admit that I really had my doubts at first, but I found out that the taste and texture of this stuff was very pleasing to my palate.

There's not really a lot to it, you simple prepare the soyrizo according to the package directions and set it aside.

Next step: saute some spinach with olive and oil and red pepper. Easy-peasy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (add more or lessto adjust the heat)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet on medium high
2. Toss in spinach and red pepper flakes
3. Saute until spinach is wilted
4. Season with salt and pepper and set aside

Once you're done with the spinach, combine the tofu scramble and the soyrizo together and mix until well incorporated.

Alrighty, next! (Only a few more steps to go!) Heat up your tortillas. I melted about 2 tbsp ofEarth Balance Buttery Spread on a pancake skillet for this. This adds a real nice flavor to the tortillas and also makes them pliable for rolling burritos.

By now, your homefries should be done. Allow everything to cool sufficiently so that you don't burn yourself during assembly.

For assembly, you can use the following (optional) ingredients (for sake of full disclosure, I added these two ingredients when calculating the calories/macros):

• Vegan cheese
• Picante Salsa

This is completely up to you, the burritos taste just fine without them.

To assemble, follow this order:

1. Spread about 1/2 tbsp of a vegan cheese of your choice on a warm tortilla 
2. Add about 1/8 of your homefries
3. Add about 1/8 of your spinach
4. Top with 1/8 scoop of soyrizo/tofu scramble mixture
5. carefully spread on 1/2 tbsp salsa
6. Roll tortilla by folding in the bottom, then folding in each of the sides over the bottom fold and rolling the top to close
7. Set aside and repeat until you've created roughly 8-10 burritos (I say 8 conservatively if you're using large tortillas, but I used medium sized ones, so I got 10 out of this mixture.)

Calories/Macros per serving: Cals: 385 Carbs: 40 Fat: 15 Protein: 20

Alrighty, let's have some lunch shall we? I know, I know, you're not going to be hungry for a while after that yummy breakfast, but here we go!

I found this recipe on the MFP Team Vegan group forum. I had to try them just because of the name alone! What I discovered is that they are aptly named! Serves 4-6.

OMGWTF Spinach Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg froz chopped spinach 
• 1 pkg froz chopped broccoli 
• 1 med white onion, chopped 
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1/2-14 oz pkg extra firm tofu, drained and crumbled 
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (recommended) 
• 1 tsp toasted ground cumin 
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano (optional) 
• 1-2 serrano peppers, chopped, depending on how much heat you like 
• salt to taste 
• 1 package fresh corn tortillas, heated lightly for suppleness (you can use regular, but you may want to double them up so they don't break since they're thinner and more brittle) 
• 1 cup vegan cheez shreds (I used Galaxy Nutritional Foods cheddar; I tried the Daiya and found that I didn't like it very much) 

Directions:

1. Saute froz veggies til just thawed and drain extra water. Set aside. Saute onion, add thawed veggies, garlic, tofu, seasonings, until heated through and very fragrant. Taste once or twice as you go along, and you'll know when it's come together. 
2. Roll em up, top with cheez and bake for 20 mins or so. 
3. Serve with salsa.

These are great just like this or you can serve them with some black beans and spanish rice for a full on southwestern vegan feast! FYI, calories/macros on this recipe do not include additional spanish rice and black beans!

Calories/Macros per serving: Cals: 329 Carbs: 33 Fat: 11 Protein: 23

For dinner one night this week, I made these unbelievably simple yet outrageously flavorful Vegan Southwestern Stuffed Butternut Squash, which I found on CheapandSimpleVeganRecipes.com. They got rave reviews at the dinner table. Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 cup of cooked black beans (canned or fresh)
• 3/4 of an onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 can green chiles
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• Vegan cheese
• Cilantro, salsa, avocado (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Halve and seed your squash, and then hollow out each side just enough to form a shallow boat. Brush a baking sheet with some olive oil and also brush your squash with a little olive oil (both sides).
3. Roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, flesh-side down, or until the flesh is soft when you pierce it with a fork (if you leave the skin on, it may need to roast longer).
4. Meanwhile, saute onions and garlic in a pan for about 3 minutes. Add bell peppers, chiles, and spices, and saute another 5 minutes or so. Add beans and stir. Saute a few minutes longer and remove from heat.
5. Remove squash from oven and stuff with filling. Top with some vegan cheese and return to oven for about 5-10 minutes.
6. Serve with cilantro, salsa and avocado. Enjoy!

You will not believe how amazing these taste. I can't even describe it!

Calories/Macros per serving: Cals: 443 Carbs: 71 Fat: 15 Protein: 16

Lastly, I got a dessert recipe from a vegan friend of mine on FaceBook who has helped me immensely in my vegan transition. She has graciously answered all my questions and pointed me in the right direction for everything you could ever know about eating and enjoying a plant-based diet. This is a special family recipe that has been handed down over generations and she has so graciously given it to me to share with all of you! Serves 12-14.

Rolled Sweet Dates by Anne Smith

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Chopped Dates (use soft, moist dates not hard and dry ones. Varies from brand to brand)
• 3/4 Stick Butter (Earth Balance butter can be subbed, to make Vegan)
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Coconut
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
• 1 1/2 –2 Cups Rice Crispies

Directions:

1. Melt "butter" in a saucepan; add sugar, add dates, bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, being careful not to burn. 
2. Reduce heat to simmer, simmer 8-10 minutes. It must cook and become bubbly and thick to caramelize, and to hold together. 
3. Remove from heat, and cool 2-4 minutes. Add nuts, coconut, pecans, and rice crispies. 
4. Mix thoroughly and roll into balls. 

**Tip: Mixture will be hot, to keep from sticking or burning use sandwich baggies as gloves to roll, or coat hands with butter or cooking spray. Make sure to allow the mixture to cool enough to become sticky enough to roll into balls.

Calories/Macros per serving: Cals: 263 Carbs: 35 Fat: 14 Protein: 2

I hope you enjoy these new offerings as much as I enjoyed making them, trying them and subsequently, sharing them! Bon appetit! Let's eat!!

To your health and wellness,

Charlotte

Fun vegan fact:

The following people are famous vegetarians/vegans:

• Included in the list are actors Alec Baldwin, Alicia Silverstone, and Pamela Anderson 
• Musicians Brandy, Paul McCartney, and Shania Twain 
• Athletes such as Carl Lewis, Martina Navratilova, and Hank Aaron 
• Historical figures who have been vegetarians include Mark Twain, Voltaire, and William Blake