What Vegans Eat, The US Holiday Way

I've been so busy with work, school-related red tape and meeting new abolitionists over at the Abolitionist Approach Forum over the past few weeks that I haven't been doing much of my usual nosing around online to check out the projects in which others have been engaging. Sometimes it's good to step back and disengage from things a little. Last night, however, I did spend some time wowing at the prolific posting that's been going on by some noteworthy vegan food bloggers this past month.
It would be a bit bizarre to write about vegan food blogging this month without acknowledging the numerous posts that have written to share variations on traditional Thanksgiving fare just in time for the US holiday. One that really caught my eye was shared on Facebook a short while ago by cookbook author Robin Robertson. Her Almost One-Dish Thanksgiving Dinner (aka Thanksgiving Pie and pictured above) sounds as if it would be absolutely delicious served up with a side of oven-roasted vegetables and some cranberry sauce. Angel Flinn and her pals over at Gentle World also shared some Thanksgiving meal ideas recently, offering up a "Vegan Menu for a Gentle Thanksgiving". It includes recipes for Thanksgiving Stuffing, Holiday Stuffed Butternut Squash, Herb Roasted Vegetables, Holiday Mushroom Gravy, Holiday Candied Yams and Pumpkin Pie.

Oregonian writer Grant Butler also shared some animal-free versions of traditional Thanksgiving recipes (or recipes that remind him of meals shared with his family while growing up in the US South) in an article this past Monday. In it you'll find Green Beans w/Mushrooms, Acorn Squash w/Pecan-Cherry Stuffing, Roasted Cauliflower and Classic Macaroni and Cheeze. Butler describes bringing sides to a family meal as a sort of vegan advocacy through food. I'm also a big fan of bringing good vegan chow to potlucks and shared meals to let everyone see how delicious vegan food can be.
Leinana at Vegan Good Things shared a number of recipes -- all ridiculously delicious-sounding -- in a Thanksgiving-themed post over the weekend -- Porcini & Pecan Pâté, Celery Root Soup w/Granny Smith Apple & Chive Oil, Butternut Squash & Macaroni Casserole (pictured above), Brussels Sprouts, Pumpkin Cheesecake and Oven Roasted Banana Rum Cheesecake w/Spiced Pecan Crust & Maple Rum Sauce.

You should also check out an article with general Thanksgiving tips Houston food writer Joel Luks shared with me on Twitter earlier today. In his article, Luks talks about how easy it is to substitute typically animal-based ingredients like cream, butter, broths or cheese to win people over with the most decadent of recipes. You also need to try the recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes w/Cream Cheese Frosting he shared.
For more ideas geared towards dessert, try the Frosted Pumpkin Cookies (pictured above) or Maple Walnut Roasted Apples from Meg's Cooking Addiction. Or for a theme-appropriate beverage, you can try the Pumpkin Nog recipe by Alyson at Manifest: Vegan.

So there you have it! Go forth and spread good noms!

Soup!

I've never been a food blogger and have no interest in being one for various reasons, including that others are doing a much better job at it than I ever could. I have, however, spent many (many!) years experimenting in the kitchen. Those who've been around when that experimentation spiked as a passionate indulgence rarely complained about the outcome--including my mostly omni friends. One of my biggest loves over the years has been making soup (or stews) and I have a couple of favourite recipes I'd like to share.

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First up is a variation on a green lentil soup recipe I've been making forever (and which I've posted here before). I've no idea of whether there was a specific recipe of origin for it--it's become so "off the cuff" for me. The tarragon is really a worthwhile addition!

Lentil Soup

What you need:

1-1/2 cups lentils, washed
1-1/2 quarts veggie stock or water
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 stalks celery & tops, chopped
1 Tbs celery seed, ground
1 onion, diced 2 carrots, diced
1-1/2 to 2 cups tomatoes, stewed (I just use the canned and diced)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 or 1 tsp fresh tarragon, shredded (optional but recommended!)

What you do:

Place lentils in pot. Add water / veggie stock, salt and yeast. Cover and simmer until almost tender. Add remainder of ingredients. Cover. Simmer until carrots are done (about 15 minutes or longer). Add the tarragon during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

This soup is great with fresh whole grain rolls smeared with vegan "cream cheese" or a bit of Earth Balance margarine sprinkled with nutritional yeast. Serves 5-6.

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Next is an adaptation of Dorothy R. Bates' "Noodle Soup", from The TVP Cookbook. This soup is a ridiculously easy to make side for a sandwich, and reminds me a lot of the canned chicken noodle soup mom would often serve up when I was a kid.

Not-Chicken Noodle Soup

What you need:

1 cup of onions, chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
6 cups of hot water
1 cup TVP granules (smallish)
2 cups noodles, broken
1 tsp (or less) salt
1 tsp dried parsley, heaping
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 cup frozen vegetables of your choice (optional)

What you do:

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion until it's just beginning to brown. Then add the 6 cups of hot water, TVP, noodles and salt and bring to a brisk boil and simmer for around 5 minutes. Add dried parsley and frozen vegetables (if using) and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. When done, stir in nutritional yeast flakes and serve. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley. Serves 6

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Each spring, I have a moment of veritable "doh!" when I remember that I've once again forgotten to place an advance catalog order for tomatillo seed to have time to sprout them early enough to grow seedlings to transplant into my garden. You can't get fresh tomatillos here and local seed choices are (sadly) limited. If I manage to find a way to get my hands on some soon so that I can grow them, I'll surely be making the following amazing soup by late summer. It's an adaptation of a recipe that was given to me in a vegan recipes forum years ago, and I'm unsure of its origins but ended up tweaking it and making it several times the two summers I didn't forget to buy seed.

Tomatillo Soup

What you need:

2-3 Tbs olive oil
2-1/2 cups chopped onion
5 medium fresh poblano or Anaheim chili peppers (or if you need to substitute, see here)
2-3 Tbs garlic, crushed and / or minced
2 tsp salt
2 Tbs chili powder
6 cups tomatillos, husked and chopped
4 cups water
2-3 Tbs sweetener
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

What you do:

In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion for 4-5 minutes. Mix the peppers, garlic, salt and chili powder into them and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes or so. Add the tomatillos and mix well, cover and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes, allowing the tomatillos to begin to soften. Add the water and bring to a quick boil, then lower to a simmer, cover the pot and allow to cook another 10-12 minutes. Purée some or all of the soup in a blender or food processor and return to the pot to heat. Stir in the cilantro, saving some to garnish, and serve immediately. Serves 6.

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General Soup Tips:

If you're serving hot soup, preheat the bowls and tureens you're using to serve it. If you're serving cold soup, chill the bowls or tureens you're using to serve it. It really makes a difference!

Garnish your soup! Although soups often turn out looking quite lovely and colourful, I often add a little something to individual serving bowls. Suggestions include:

-Chopped fresh herbs (e.g. dill, parsley, cilantro, et al., depending on herbs used in soup)
-Grated citrus rind (organic is ideal)
-Croutons
-A dollop of soy yogurt topped with a thin slice of lemon or lime
-Minced scallions or chives
-A sprinkle of paprika
-Thinly sliced radish, carrot
-Chopped nuts (e.g. walnuts, pecans, peanuts)
-A spoonful of chutney
-Black olive slivers
-Toasted almond slivers

You get the point... Now go make soup!

Makin' Tempeh!

My friend Mark makes his own tempeh and recently documented his latest attempt for me so that I could blog about it. I'm including his instructions and the photos he kindly took to accompany them.

Homemade Tempeh
(makes about 2 lbs)

Ingredients:

1 lb (2.5 cups) dried, cracked, dehulled soybeans
2 tsp tempeh starter
water
vinegar (lowers the pH, discouraging growth of competing bacteria)

Prep:

Method 1 (my way): If you have a grain mill that can be adjusted to crack soybeans to dehull them, then this is the way to go. Once they are cracked (in around two pieces--not much more than that), take them outside on a dry and very windy day and pour the cracked beans back and forth between two large containers. The wind carries away most of the hulls leaving only the cracked soybeans for the next step. (I’ve seen suggestions to use a strong fan or hairdryer if the weather is not cooperating.) Soak these (at least overnight), covering them in water with a tablespoon of vinegar. Proceed to recipe.

Method 2: Buy the soybeans already cracked & dehulled. These are sometimes called ‘full-fat soy grits’. Soak these (at least overnight) covered in water with a tablespoon of vinegar. Proceed to recipe.

Method 3: Cover whole soybeans with boiling water with 1 Tbs of vinegar, and let soak at room temperature at least overnight. Next, pour off the water and rub the beans in the pot vigorously between your hands to slide off the hulls and split the beans into halves manually. Fill the pot with water and stir to allow the hulls to rise to the surface. Skim off the hulls and repeat the process till most of the hulls are gone. (Ugh!) Proceed to recipe

Recipe:

1) Rinse the soaked soybeans, place in large pot with 10 cups of water and 1-1/2 Tbs vinegar. Bring to a rolling boil and cook, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as hulls and foam will rise to the surface in the beginning and can overflow. Skim off the hulls/foam as they rise to the top (it gets less touchy after the first 15 minutes or so).

2) Drain beans into colander and then transfer into large clean bowl. Let beans cool uniformly by pressing the beans into the concave shape of the bowl till about room temperature.

3) Sprinkle 1-1/2 Tbs of vinegar and mix thoroughly using a clean wire whisk. Now sprinkle 1 tsp of tempeh starter over the beans and whisk in thoroughly. Add the other 1 tsp of tempeh starter and mix thoroughly again.

4) Press inoculated beans into clean containers or Ziploc bags. Avoid touching the beans with your hands (even though you washed them very well, with soap, before you started all this, right?). Beans can be anywhere from 1/2" to 1-1/2” thick. If pressed into a container for incubation, cover lightly with plastic wrap so top does not dry out before it gets a chance to colonize.

Note: I have made myself plastic tempeh moulds out of old margarine containers. Any clear plastic containers would do (so you can see the progress). Drill small (around 1/8”) holes spaced about an inch apart and in a grid pattern into the container. Perforated Ziploc bags can be used too.

5) Tempeh needs an ideal temperature of 86-88 F. (30-31 C) to incubate. Slightly cooler (down to 80 F / 27 C) will still work, though much slower increasing chance for contamination, and too hot can kill/end the process. The easiest method without building/buying some contraption is to use the oven with just the light on inside, but you have to use an accurate thermometer to figure out how to have the oven temp ‘hover’ around that ideal temperature range. An outdoor thermometer will work fine. Variables include room temperature, which rack inside the oven you're using, how close to the bulb your have your stuff, whether the oven door is closed or propped open more (or less). Do all of this temperature experimenting BEFORE your first batch goes in and you should succeed the very first time!

Incubation takes about 20-24 hours at the proper temp. About 2/3 of the way through, the tempeh starts generating it’s own heat (a lot of it--you can really feel it). At about this time you should a) move the tempeh to a lower rack, or b) prop the oven door open a bit more wider, or c) turn off the oven light altogether to avoid overheating. Sometimes you’ll see the corner of the tempeh closest to the heat source seem more advanced; rotate the tray so that the other side can ‘catch up’.

6) When the tempeh looks all white and firm (pretty much like the store-bought stuff) you can cut it up and use it, refrigerate it, or freeze it. If you let it continue to grow it will begin to produce surface spores (grey to black). This is no problem and is still edible. Ammonia overtones will increase and tempeh will get stronger if allowed to over-ripen and is still safe, within reason (some people even prefer it this way). If it starts smelling foul or turning odd colours or textures, maybe you’ve gone too far and it’s time to toss it and make a new batch.

Note: If unavailable at your local health food store, you can order tempeh starter online from a place like GEM Cultures.

The Sexy Vegan's Episode #14: Mock Tuna Salad

I've made reference to The Sexy Vegan cooking videos a few times over the past several months. I realize that their humour may not be to everybody's liking, but I can't help overflowing with a chortle or two when I watch some of them. For instance, in Episode #14 from a few months ago, he shows his audience how to make mock tuna salad:

Vegan soup recipes in the news

The Victoria Times Colonist ran a decent article by Eric Akis the other day. It's well worth reading just for the great instructions on how to make a flavourful vegetable-based stock (and includes a recipe for one). As a bonus, he included recipes for Curried Yam Soup w/ Coconut and Lime, Classic Mushroom Soup and Lentil Soup w/ Herbe de Provence.

A couple of veg recipes in the news...

Carolina's News 14 has a recipe for Vegetarian Borscht today. Opt for vegetable stock and a soy-based ''sour cream'' like Tofutti's and the recipe is easily veganized.

The Orillia Packet & Times has an Asian-Style Vegetable Noodle Bowl recipe from Eric Akis' Everyone Can Cook Midweek Meals. (The egg noodles are easily replaced with an animal-free alternative.)

Recipes: Got a date?

These are simple no-cook recipes for healthy snacks that are great for kids or adults.

Date Treats

1 lb pitted dates
1/4 cup peanut (or other nut) butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or other nuts or seeds

Mix the nut butter and chopped nuts / seed and stuff dates with mixture. Yum!

(This was adapted from The Deaf Smith Country Cookbook.)

Date Balls

1 cup cooked dates
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups organic cereal flakes
coconut (optional)

Cook the dates in water until they're soft. Add the nuts and remove the mix from heat. Stir in the cereal flakes and shape into one inch balls. Roll in coconut. Serve immediately.

(This was adapted from a regional Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook.)

More vegan recipes in the news

The Star features a recipe adapted from Dreena Burtons's Eat, Drink & be Vegan -- Avocado, Bean & Corn Tortilla Lasagna.

The Erie Times-News has a recipe for Penne w/Spinach Cilantro Pesto and Arugula from Laura Mathias' ExtraVeganZa: Original Recipes from Phoenix Organic Farm.

The Chicagoist has an Easy Tomato Bruschetta recipe.

The Washington Post has a recipe for Spicy Stir-Fried Broccoli w/Tomato-Chickpea Ragu by chef Tracy O'Grady, as well as an Okra Gumbo from the Creole Restaurant and Music Supper Club in East Harlem.

The Janesville Gazette has one for Garlic Mustard Pesto from ''America's best-known forager'' Steve Brill (see my link to his website to the left of your screen).

And finally, to cap things off without a recipe, but on a related note -- Indystar.com has a clever little story in their Lifestyle section about the modern-day dilemmas facing people trying to throw together dinner parties.

And yet again, more vegan recipes in the ''news''

Hungry?

The Welland Tribune offers up Vegetarian Chili Pie (easily veganized if the cheese is switched to a dairy-free soy cheese).

The Orillia Packet & Times has a recipe for a dill-seasoned Tofu ''Egg'' Salad (Nayonaise or Vegenaise can be used instead of the real stuff).

The Atlantic's Megan McArdle features recipes for Mushroom Crostini and decadent Chocolate Pancakes w/ Berry Sauce.

The Daily Dispatch has recipes for Nearly Instant Thai Coconut Corn Soup, Tortilla Casserole from Nava Atlas' Vegan Express, as well as Macaroni and Four ''Cheeses'' from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.

The Killeen Daily Herald has a great article on vegan nutrition that features a recipe bonanza: Smokey Curry Veggies and Basmati Rice, Mediterranean Vegetable Pizza for starters, then Penne Vodka from Veganomicon, (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero) and a Scrambled Tofu recipe from Vegan With a Vengenace (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz).

More vegan recipes ''in the news''...

The Toronto Star has a Sesame Lime Soba Noodles w/ Shiitakes & Snow Peas recipe from Canadian cookbook author Dreena Burton's book Eat, Drink & Be Vegan (which a vegan friend of mine who is remarkable in the kitchen recently recommended to me). From the same book, they feature a Chipotle Lime Two-Bean Hummus recipe. Vegan Freak Radio interviewed Dreena about her book last November; you can listen to it here.

The Guardian (UK) has a short article on another Canadian cookbook author (one of my absolute favourites!), Sarah Kramer, and features a Portobellos Mushroom Bake that sounds delicious, as well as Brainless Banana Pancakes and Sarah's Blueberry Dilip (which is a kind of crumble).

Vegan recipes in the ''news''

A quick Google News search brought these up this morning. It's neat seeing vegan recipes popping up in mainstream media.

The Canadian Press featured a Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe (it's vegan if you omit the cheese) created by Toronto chef Massimo Capra for a Food Network Canada series.

The Baltimore Sun featured an Indian Pumpkin and Lentils recipe by self-published cookbook author Sukumaran Muralidharan.

The Shreveport Times offered up Tofu Super Scramble and Raisin Bread recipes.

Recipes: Desserts!

I've never been much of a sweets fanatic, with the exception of adoring chocolate and cheesecake (or the sublime and permanently addictive food group created when I combined the two back when dairy wasn't an issue). Because of this, I've never spent a lot of time experimenting with desserts. I think I've only ever baked one single cake from scratch (no kidding), and I'm sure that the last time I baked a pie was over seven years ago. And should I mention that my last experiment with brownies -- from a mix out of a box, is still mocked good-naturedly by a couple of good friends who witnessed the outcome?

With all this confessed, I have to add that I've resisted attempting to learn to bake tofu-based cheesecake out of fear that I'd succeed (I'm weak, I tell you).

Thankfully, I've been able to dabble with some really simple (in terms of ingredients, time and cost) and relatively healthier dessert recipes over the years. Here are a couple of them. I'll post more over the next week.

Adapted from Kathy Cooks Naturally by Kathy Hoshijo:

Gingered Bananas

4 bananas, sliced
2 lemons, juiced
2 scant tsp of freshly-grated ginger

Toss everything together and serve. (I like to chill the lemon juice ahead of time.) Serves 2.

Pears In The Surf

2 cups of diced pears
1/8 to 1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs of agave nectar
1 tsp of freshly-grated ginger
1 tsp grated lemon rind
fizzy water (e.g. Perrier, San Pellegrino)

Mix juice, agave nectar, ginger and lemon rind and marinate the diced pears in it for a minimum of a half hour, chilling it and mixing it occasionally to ensure pears get covered nicely.

Spoon into serving cups immediately before serving and pour fizzy water over the fruit to fill the cups. Serves 2.


(Watching: The Sound of Music. Quit yer snickering!)

Recipe: Kasha and Veggies

Kasha is toasted buckwheat groats (which are just buckwheat kernels stripped of their outer coating and cracked into smaller pieces). In Eastern European countries, the term ''kasha'' is more generically used to refer to a sort of porridge (either sweet or savoury) that can be made from oats, buckwheat, rye or wheat.

If you can't find kasha at the supermarket or health food store (which is where I usually get it), you can substitute regular buckwheat groats, which have a more bitter taste. You can even toast up regular (dry) buckwheat groats in some oil in a pan until they've browned a little. Toasted groats aren't as bitter as the regular groats and have a bit of a distinctive nutty taste.

Here's another favourite recipe of mine, adapted from The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals, which I hope to track down soon.

Kasha and Veggies

Step 1:
2 cups kasha
4 cups water

Boil water and cook kasha for 15-20 minutes.

Step 2:
2 Tbs oil
5 onions, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup tamari
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
3 Tbs tahini

Heat the oil and sauté the veggies for around 6-7 minutes (until tender), then add the cooked kasha, seasonings and tahini and cook an additional 8-10 minutes.

I usually serve it up with steamed greens tossed with a bit of balsamic vinegar, virgin olive oil and crushed garlic, or sometimes with a tossed green salad.

Yum!

Recipe: Lentil Soup

This one's a variation of the ongoing basic green lentil soup recipe I've been slapping together forever. The tarragon addition started up a few years back when I first began growing it in my garden. It's optional, but is really worth it.

Lentil Soup

1-1/2 cups lentils, washed
1-1/2 quarts veggie stock or water
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 stalks celery & tops, chopped
1 Tbs celery seed, ground
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1-1/2 to 2 cups tomatoes, stewed (I often just use the canned and diced)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 or 1 tsp fresh tarragon, shredded (optional)

Place lentils in pot. Add water / veggie stock, salt and yeast. Cover and simmer until almost tender. Add remainder of ingredients. Cover. Simmer until carrots are done (about 15 minutes or longer). Add the tarragon during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

This soup is great with fresh whole grain rolls smeared with Tofutti "cream cheese" or a bit of Earth Balance margarine sprinkled with nutritional yeast.

Serves 5-6.

Recipe: The Most Amazing Lentil Burger Ever

The recipe is adapted from The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt (ca. 1971). It was the first mostly-vegetarian cookbook I ever bought, back in 1990 or so when I picked it up at a used bookstore in Ottawa. I've made these for over fifteen years and they're still my favourite homemade veggie burgers.

Lentil Burgers

2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup of whole grain bread crumbs (e.g. whole wheat, spelt, etc.)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp salt (I use a little less)
1/2 Tbs celery seed
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp garlic powder (or 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced)
1/2 a large onion, grated
whole wheat flour

Mix all the ingredients but the lentils and flour. Mash the lentils only a wee bit more than lightly and mix with other ingredients. Form palm sized patties, just under an inch thick. Dredge 'em through the flour and then fry on both sides in hot olive oil until they've browned.

Serving suggestion: Melt slices of vegan mozzarella on patties and serve with tomato slices. lettuce and onion sprouts in a whole grain bread sandwich. The recipe makes around 5-6 patties.

Recipe: Baked Rice and Lentils

This is adapted from a recipe found in an old Seventh-Day Adventist recipe booklet published in Canada in 1989. It's incredibly simple and inexpensive to make and you can easily tweak the seasonings to please your own taste buds. Use it wherever you'd use something like mashed potatoes (e.g. with roasted veggies and seitan).

Baked Rice and Lentils

2 medium onions, diced
1/2 cup uncooked rice
2/3 cup uncooked green lentils
2/1-2 cups water
4 tsp or so of soya sauce

Saute the onion in oil, if you wish (I just dice it and throw it in raw with everything else).

In a small casserole dish, dump the rice, lentils, water and soya sauce and the raw / sauteed onions. Bake covered at 325 F for at least 40 minutes or until the rice is tender. Add water if necessary and add salt / pepper to taste when done if desired (I never do since the soya sauce is salty enough).

Optional: Add 1/2 cup of sauteed mushrooms or drained canned mushrooms.
Add crushed garlic to taste.

Recipe: Pumpkin Oatmeal Molasses Cookies

I've never been much of a baker of sweets. I have a pretty lengthy (and embarrassing!) history of lopsided muffins, wet cakes, flat things that should be fluffy -- you get the picture.

I stumbled up on a recipe online that was an adaptation of a Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen.

My variations:

• I used extra virgin olive oil instead of canola.
• I used 1-1/3 cups of sugar instead of 1-2/3.
  
• I added a tablespoon of powdered egg replacer instead of the ground flax seeds.
• I used a 1/2 cup of chopped dates instead of the raisins.
• I used blackstrap molasses instead of regular molasses.
  

The result? Delicious, dark little cookies that probably taste more of molasses than the original recipe, hence my referring to them as "Pumpkin Oatmeal Molasses Cookies". I'll be re-homing some of them tomorrow, the little darlings.

Recipe: Spicy Sweet Potato and Bean Burritos

These are simply amazing. I usually make them using black beans and don't always add avocado. This is very roughly adapted from a couple of different recipes found online over the years. It's a hybrid that's taken on a taste of its own.

Spicy Sweet Potato and Bean Burritos

1-2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of kidney beans or black beans, canned
1 cup of water (or leftover bean liquid)
1Tbs chilli powder (heapin'!)
1 tsp cumin (heapin!)
2 Tbs soy sauce
4-10 inch soft whole wheat tortillas
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (with an optional dab of margarine)
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1/4 cup salsa
chopped jalapeno peppers (optional)
vegan cheese shreds (optional)

Cook enough sweet potatoes to make two cups (a couple of small ones or a large one). I usually bake them in advance. Set aside.

Heat the oil in saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion in oil until transparent. add garlic and stir. Add beans, water, chilli powder and cumin. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce head to low. Simmer until beans are very soft, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in soy sauce.

Mash beans in the pot with a potato masher or large fork. Simmer over medium-low heat to cook away any excess liquid, about 20-25 minutes (watch it really closely, though). Taste and add more seasoning if warranted or desired. If you like things REALLY spicy add some chopped jalapenos at this point.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spread about 2/3 of a cup of the bean mixture down the middle of a tortilla and top with a 1/2 cup of mashed sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with some green onions. Roll up the burrito and place it seam side down (to keep it from opening) on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with vegetable cooking spray (alternately, you can brush on a bit of oil). Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Bake for 15 minutes or until burritos are crisp and turning slightly golden. Top burritos with avocado and salsa.

Optional: Sprinkle some vegan cheese on top (n.b. I rarely bother, 'cause it's really unnecessary).

Makes 4 servings.