Taco Lasagna

Yet another variant on the Mexican layered casserole thingy that never fails to appeal to me.

Recipe via Veg News, see it here.

Delish and satisfying.  Leftovers, too, always a plus in my book.  It didn't plate very well, but definitely edible.

One note is that the online recipe does not include a baking time.  I baked mine for 40 minutes and that was just about right.  The top layer of tortillas was starting to crisp and and it was hot throughout.

Keeper.

Get Thee Some of This

I stopped at Whole Foods mid-week and had a few samples of this:

Hol-ee cow, it's delish.  I am new to the almond butter game, and this is a delightful intro.  Kind of like candy cigarettes are the gateway to real ones, fruit and flavor-laden almond butter is the gateway to full-on almond butter.  Or something like that.  Lots of flavors to choose from, too.  I have been enjoying this on banana slices, thin on banana, heavy on the almond butter.  This would also be excellent stirred into oatmeal.  Or just eaten by the spoonful, and I can't say I haven't done a fair amount of that, too.

Dessert fail

It's such a bummer when something like this happens. You see a recipe and it looks really good on paper (and in pictures, in this case), so you go to the effort of assembling the ingredients and then preparing it and then...disappointment. For some reason it's worse when it's a dessert.

So I ran across the recipe a week or so ago. Chocolate, peanut butter, pretzel crust, what could go wrong? Not to mention that I was spurred on by my already-professed love of these:

 

But go wrong it did for reasons I haven't been able to specify. They sure looked tasty, though.

Maybe it was too much of  a good thing.  The crust was a little mushy and overall I think it was just too much.  These things filled a regular-size muffin cup, so they were the size of a cupcake.  Even a Justin's pb cup would be too much in that size.  Granted, these were not purported to be a pb cup, they are pb pies.  I couldn't even finish one.  Lori finished hers but later said she did it so she wouldn't hurt my feelings.  Oy.  I mean, it's dessert.  It's optional.  If it's not good, for Pete's sake, don't eat it!

 

I'll be backing off the peanut butter desserts for quite awhile.  I didn't blog about it, but I also made a peanut butter ice cream pie a few weeks ago (with a Nutter Butter crust, no less--again, what could go wrong?  But it did), which you'd think would have taught me a lesson.  But, no.  I shall stick to what I know, and that is Justin's pb cups are the gold standard.  Lesson learned.



Do it

Get thee to Beet Box Cafe and have a turtle brownie.  I would have taken a picture, but the brownie was less than picture perfect by the time I got it home in the bike bag.  However, it did fare better than the peaches I picked up at the farmers market.  Anyway, it was exquisite.

Fajitas!

Fajitas for dinner last night.  I used Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips and they were delicious!

I'm excited about another faux meat option, especially since the Beyond Meat products don't have gluten in them.  It's becoming more and more evident that I have gluten issues, so I've been avoiding it as much as possible.  The stuff is spendy, though (although you do get a decent amount), and there's a lot of packaging, but I am willing to overlook these issues in order to eat fajitas.

Some yummy Mexican-style rice on the side.  Recipe here.  And the requisite sour cream and guac to top it all off.

Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

And it's all about the food!

Let us start with the drink.  I ran across this recipe via Civia Bicycles.

Mixed Berry Limoncello Sangria
Serves 4—6

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup halved fresh strawberries
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1 medium lemon, thinly sliced
1/2 12 oz. can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) limoncello (lemon-flavor liqueur)
2 750mL bottle Prosecco or sparkling wine, chilled

Directions:

1. In a large pitcher or glass jar combine raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and lemon slices. Stir in lemonade concentrate and limoncello. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours to blend flavors.
2. Just before serving, add Prosecco. Serve in glasses over ice.

Do yourself a favor and make this recipe!  The alcohol-soaked berries are the best part.  And, really, how could you go wrong with this recipe?

Then on to the main course:  Veggie burgers, horseradish potato salad and baked beans.

The potato salad recipe came from Vegan Diner (I think).

2 lbs. small red potatoes, peeled (you'll notice I did not do this)

1/3 c. plain unsweetened soy milk

1/2 c. vegan mayo

2-3 T. prepared horseradish

1/2 t. fine sea salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large pot of slightly salted boiling water, add potatoes and cook until just tender, about 15-20 mins.  Drain and let sit until cool enough to handle.  Dice into large chunks.

In a large bowl, stir together the soy milk, mayo, horseradish and salt.  Add the diced potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat with the mayo mixture.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  I was short on horseradish so I added some dill from the garden.  Mmm, dill.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.  

The baked bean recipe came from The Happy Herbivore.  Recipe here.

'Twas a good day.  Thanks, America.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

From The China Study Cookbook

1 cup low-fat graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup crushed walnuts
1/2 cup reduced-fat, unsweetened coconut (I used regular full-fat coconut, same deal with the crackers)
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup nondairy milk
1 cup nondairy chocolate chips
5 tablespoons rice or almond milk

1.  Crush graham crackers in food processor.  In a separate bowl, add walnuts, coconut, and peanut butter.  Stir in crushed graham crackers.

2.  Slowly add milk and mix.  If the mixture does not hold together, continue adding additional milk until all ingredients stick together.  However, don't make it too soft, and if necessary use your hands.

3.  Spread mixture evenly into a 9x9 nonstick baking dish.

4.  In a saucepan, melt chocolate chips together with rice or almond milk over medium heat.  Stir until smooth.

5.  Spread chocolate mixture on top of peanut butter mixture.  Refrigerate for 1 hour or until hardened.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

These are quite delicious and a perfect summer dessert!  You could probably melt the chocolate chips in the microwave so that you wouldn't even have to use the stovetop.  This one's a keeper.