Happy Ocho de Mayo!
We’re Celebrating with Our Vegan Enchiladas Recipe, Spanish Rice and Yaya Beans
It’s always a happy day in our house when we bust out the vegan enchiladas recipe. Anni asked me the other day if, “Dad and I were making enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo?” I thought, is it May already…she said, “Mom, that’s one of my favorite memories, you and Dad working in the kitchen, you grating cheese and Dad frying the tortillas.” So this is for you, Anni, the works; vegan enchiladas, Spanish rice and Yaya Beans.
Let’s start with the Yaya beans. (FYI my kids, kids call me Yaya)
Yaya Beans Recipe:
Prep time: 90 min (not including overnight soak)
Servings: 8 Adults
Ingredients:
- 1lb. bag of pinto beans
- Large yellow onion chopped fine
- 1 TSP cinnamon
- Salt
Directions:
- Cover beans in large pot and soak overnight
- Drain and rinse when ready to cook
- Just cover with water
- Add chopped onions
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Bring to boil
- Simmer until done
(Regarding the cinnamon, it’s my Grandmother’s secret ingredient, just do it, you’ll be okay)
Dairy-Free Vegan Enchiladas Recipe:
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes (Preheat oven 375 degrees)
Servings: 8 Adults
Ingredients:
- 2 dozen corn tortillas
- 5 TBSP olive oil
- A bundle of fresh green onions minced
- 1 can pitted black olives drained
- 8 oz. Daiya Dairy-Free Cheddar Style Shreds
- 1 8 oz. pkg. Almond Mozzarella Style Shreds
- 12 oz. Las Palmas Enchilada Sauce (mild)
Directions:
- Heat oil on medium high in cast iron skillet
- Pour ½ can of Enchilada sauce into another skillet
Create a enchilada assembly line… be sure Carlos Santana is on.
- Line up left to right: a stack of corn tortillas, a pie plate, a greased casserole dish and the dairy-free cheese shreds
- Ladle about 3/4cup of sauce and spread onto bottom of casserole dish
- Warm the tortillas, one at a time in the skillet with oil, flipping once
- When done, place in casserole dish, repeat until you have one layer covering bottom
- Sprinkle ⅓ of both cheeses, ⅓ of the green onions and and olives
- Ladle between layers enchilada sauce
- When you have three layers, spread last of sauce, cheese, onions and olives
- Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil
- Bake 25 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 10-15 min
Spanish Rice Recipe:
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Servings: 8 Adults
Ingredients:
- 16 oz bag of Organic Long Grain Brown Rice Lundberg Family
- 1 yellow or white onion minced
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1 Lg can of diced tomatoes
- ½ TSP black pepper
- Salt to taste
Directions:
- In a large stainless steel skillet heat oil on medium high
- Pour in rice, stir and until turning golden 15-20 min
- Stir in minced onion and brown with the rest
- Pour in the tomatoes
- Cover and turn to simmer.
- Cook one hour
Yikes! Oh my gawd…
I’m exhausted and haven’t even started.. Time for an iced coffee and go find my side-kick Rick; this dinner takes two people at the helm. And God bless him, when he came in, he yelled at Alexa and had her play Carlos Santana and Peter Frampton to serenade us. Like I always say, “I’m lucky!” 🙂
Clare (my daughter) FaceTimed while we worked through making our vegan enchiladas recipe. She was shocked to see I was making enchilada casserole. “Hey, when did you guys stop rolling the tortillas?” She asked incredulously. “Don’t tell my cousins.” I answered.
Oh, and another thing…
When we became vegans there were very few things I missed except for enchiladas. I didn’t think about them. Why tortue myself, I wisely thought. Well, I’m happy to report the dairy free cheese was great! Actually, I’m amazed. And so we continue happily on this adventurous food journey. In a million years I never would have thought…
When I peeled back the top of the plastic dome package of NatureSweet Cherub Tomatoes there was a little sticker.
Much to my surprise printed on the label, was a picture of, Lety B, Multiskills Pre-Harvest Associate. So of course I checked out her story at naturesweet.com/talent.
And I’m so glad I did. We forget about the hard working people who harvest our food. It was very touching to watch the video and hear the stories. Big kudos to NatureSweet for acknowledging their associates with these short little films; fabulous!! Nowadays, it’s so easy to be removed from the laborers, busting their asses in order for us to have the vegetables, fruit and the many foods we eat every day. I stuck Lety’s pic on my fridge to remind me of what’s important…
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A formal retraction
Two weeks ago in my blog; The Original Nissin Top Ramen Comeback in the short story included in that post; The Spirits Papayas, I wrote, “I come from a long line of cheapskates, who worship at the altar of free stuff.” I retract that statement; there are only two of us, who shall remain unnamed, but their initials are V.D. and C.M.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful Moms out there.
AS ALWAYS MUIR FAMILY!
YUM 😋 YUM….
I could be dropping in unexpectedly… sniffing out leftover enchiladas!
( I know where the kitchen door 🚪 is….
😋😋😋
KE
Thank you Karen, I know I put my enchies to the test feeding you two the other night; nice to see those satisfied smiles and practically licked clean plates.
xo
Yummm…..Wish I could have celebrated Cinco De Mayo with you guys!!
We’ll do a enchilada feed next time we’re together..hopefully soon
That is so true. I think one of the many blessings of this whole viral shit-show is that it has raised my awareness of the deep value of the migrant field workers. They are the start of this whole fragile system that sustains us all and my prayer is that the collective awareness of their work, is really and truly seen as holy work. It is so valuable and quite frankly should be seen as deeply esteemed and noble work and they deserve our praise and to be paid a living wage, and have healthcare, and the means to raise their families well above the poverty line. They, like teachers, are leaders in our world and I see them so differently than I did before. They are so valuable and so important. So thank you for sharing the part of the story of pulling back the lid and I appreciate that tomato company understanding the value of their team member. Well done Cherubs and well done Clio (who I think is really just a cherub herself 😉
Right On! Right On! Today on the sticker I pulled off the Cherubs; Fransisco G. Packing Maintenance Specialist. He’s with Lety B. on fridge..
Right On! Right On! Today on the sticker I pulled off the Cherubs; Francisco G.Packing Maintenance Specialist…
It takes a cherub to know a cherub
Another fine choice of dishes for this week (and great pic may I add!). Summertime in Fresno is always Cinco de Mayo! Chips! Salsa, 💃 Guac 🥑. Thanks for sharing your Spanish rice recipe. I’ve always bought Near East box brand🤫.
I’ve never heard of the almond mozzarella shreds….so you use two different cheeses. The photos help a lot btw, at least for me. You guys must have a great vegan grocery store. I need to check out and see if we do!
Happy Mother’s Day, “C.M.” LoL. And to all the other mothers out there!
I just read parts aloud to Jess and we loved it b/c we hear your voice so clearly – thanks.
Loved reading parts of this out loud to Jess b/c we could both hear your voice so clearly!
I hope is was, The Spirits Papayas..thanks Josh
We loved your article today, Clio.
Especially liked the photo of you and Rick at the end of the page.
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Love from Lynda and Steve.
and thanks for the nicenote and card re: Rick and the grape vines.)
Steve, We couldn’t believe how good those enchiladas turned out. I try to keep to whole foods as much as I can, but once a week we’ll treat ourselves to vegan meat/vegan dairy. There are some really good alternatives out there.
love you two 🙂
Hi nice website https://google.com
Thank you so much. I’m having a blast writing it.
🙂
I am happy to read your blog! We have a similar success story. All of a sudden, it looked like my darling husband was on the road to kidney failure! There are 5 stages. He was in the high 3 stage. His Internist said, no need to worry and gave us an outdated list of foods to avoid. Needless to say, I got on it and found an excellent Nephrologist from UCLA. We read everything about changing his diet. We have always been healthy and fit, very active. . I cooked the Mediterranean way. This new way was difficult for me because it cannot even be Vegan!! Low protein, salt and Potassium! We did Vegan Thai take out at first. Now, I have made up simple vegetable dinners. After 2 months, his new doctor prescribed new blood tests. All of his numbers improved. He is not in the disease category anymore. I sometimes eat differently from my husband and that works out well for us. My health is excellent. No red meat. Just wanted to let you know.
Hi Robin, That is such good news regarding your husbands health. Isn’t it amazing what we can do for ourselves with our diet. Along with doctors of course. And aren’t we lucky we live in CA where we have fresh everything. Thanks again for the message and encouragement. 🙂