Gluten-Free & Vegan Vegetable & Bean Enchiladas

Sensuous Vegan Vegetable and Bean Enchiladas. Heavenly. Every bite full of vegan cheesey and bean and potato and carrot goodness.

The recipe comes from one of my newest (and already a favorite) cookbooks called The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre. On the front cover of the book it says "A complete nutritional and cooking guide for every stage of life, including over 200 gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free recipes." That is completely true - this book is a treasure trove of information, from details about nutrition to an explanation about sensitivities with gluten, dairy, and eggs to advice on how to ease into more of a whole foods diet to stocking your whole foods pantry to a wide variety of recipes. Though not all vegan, the recipes very much revolve around eating a plant-based diet. There's also a detailed explanation of Tom's 28 Day Elimination & Detoxification diet. This is a fantastic resource and I can't recommend it enough.

Let me wax poetic about this enchilada casserole. I only made half the recipe, which made one pan of enchiladas. This was enough for two people with one entire meal leftover for tomorrow night. Next time, I will follow the recipe and make two casseroles, freezing one per the instructions. It is definitely a keeper!

I made a couple of changes to the recipe. For the tortilla filling, I didn't have any yams or zucchini so I subbed russet potatoes and carrots. And though not included in the recipe, I made a Vegan Mexican Nachos sauce and poured it over the casserole for the last five minutes of baking it. The flavor of the inside of the enchiladas was so yummy even without the nachos sauce, but I'm glad I added it, as I can never get enough Vegan cheeze sauce. Every single time I make it, I'm stunned by how much it tastes like cheese!

The enchilada sauce was homemade and so worth the effort. One of the surprise ingredients is cocoa powder. You could not detect it in the sauce but I'm sure it added a richness to it. Not to mention the smokey flavor from the dried chilis.

For those of you who have been regularly reading my blog, you might notice the glaring absence of eggs (as well as dairy). The explanation for this deserves more than a few sentences, but for now, let me tell you about one of the most profound influences on my decision to become a vegan. I've been listening to podcasts recorded by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from www.compassionatecooks.com. Colleen is articulate and cares so deeply about animals. She has helped me become more determined to make veganism work for me. For now, please take a look at this video - it will give you some insight into why I've chosen to walk this path. The video was found on www.thebostonchannel.com on April 2, 2009.

This morning I made Vegan french toast, or Fronch toast as it's called in Vegan With A Vengeance, otherwise referred to in the vegan world as VWAV. I was suspicious, I'll admit. I mean, I really am a french toast fanatic. I couldn't imagine how I could get the french toast to be crisp on the outside. I always used to think that the egg gave it the crispness. Not true. No eggs in this recipe and it worked like a charm. Take a look at this picture, you'll see what I mean:



So tell me, nu (that's Yiddish for "tell me already"), what are you cooking up these days? Anything yummy?