Fried fiesta

When I discovered that this vegan queso dip existed, I got more than a little excited. After promptly ordering several jars of the stuff, there was nothing left to do but wait for its arrival. Clearly, the sauce made for some fabulous nachos but I wanted to think of a more creative way to enjoy it. Enter: vegan Mexican cheesy pierogies. Crazy, I know! But they turned out to be just as amazing as I had hoped. Crispy on the outside and ooey-gooey on the inside. Paired with fresh salsa, they made for quite the Saturday night feast!

If you aren't all as eager as I am to order vegan cheese dip off the internet (but really, is that weird?), then adding a pinch of cumin to this recipe would work well too. And I imagine throwing in some Daiya and non-dairy milk wouldn't be too shabby of an option either. Whatever you choose, these pierogies really are as good as they look. And come on, doesn't everyone love themselves a little fiesta?

"Cheesy" Mexican Pierogies with Homemade Salsa
Serves 4 

Pierogies:
20-30 eggless dumpling wrappers
3-4 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup vegan cheese sauce
Vegetable oil for frying, amounts may vary

Salsa:
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 scallions, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Begin by boiling the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Once fork tender, drain and mash, adding in the Earth Balance, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, saute the onions in 1 tbsp of veg oil over medium heat until soft and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir onions and 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce (reserving 1/4 cup for later) into the mashed potatoes and set aside.

While the potatoes are boiling and the onions are cooking, simply combine all of the salsa ingredients and refrigerate until time to eat.

Working in batches of 4-6, carefully add about 1/2 tsp of the cheesy potato mixture to the centre of each dumpling wrapper. Top with a dollop of the reserved cheese sauce and fold into half moons, sealing edges with a fork. The pierogies can be fried immediately, but I prefer to steam them first in order to soften them up. Steam for no longer than one minute per batch. In a large pan, heat about 1 tbsp of oil over medium and fry pierogies for about 3 minutes per side, until crispy and golden brown. Repeat until all of the pierogies have been cooked. Keep warm in a 200 degree oven until it's time to eat.

To serve, top the hot pierogies with salsa and garnish with a slice of lime. Sit back, relax and enjoy with a cold beer!

Super smashed

photo by me

Hello readers and fellow foodies! First of all, I want to give a HUGE thank you to Wordpress for featuring me on their "freshly pressed" page earlier this week! It's truly amazing to receive so much positive feedback from all you readers out there and it really inspires me to keep churning out yummy recipes. Enter: the simple smashed potatoes pictured above. This dish was one of those classic "what do I do with this bag of potatoes that won't last much longer?" dishes. I had a few fresh herbs on hands, so I decided to boil and smash the potatoes and inject a ton of herbaciousness (a made up word?)! In addition to the herbs, garlic, lemon and olive oil, I threw in some diced bell peppers for some extra colour and crunch. This simple dish is low on the difficulty scale but packed with big flavour! What more could you want from a humble bowl o' taters anyway?

Herby smashed potatoes
Serves 4 as a side

1 lb mini red potatoes (or whichever variety you happen to have)
1/3 cup olive oil
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1 small clove garlic, grated or pressed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh curly leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 bell pepper, finely diced
salt and pepper to taste

Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes in whole. Boil until fork tender, about 10 minutes or so. Drain the taters and and smash them with a potato masher, but don't go overboard, chunks are your friend in this rustic dish! Stir in all of the other ingredients, making sure to add a generous sprinkling of both salt and pepper. Although this dish is just as tasty when served cold, I have to say that enjoying it warm is so much more comforting!

Have a delicious weekend my friends.