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!

El hamburguesa

photo by pwisenberg

Doesn't it look like it's just comin' right at you? Nom, nom, nom! This was my first attempt at making homemade veggie burgers and they were mighty successful! I adapted the recipe from one found in this book, but added several of my own touches. The patties are made from a combo of black beans, mushrooms, onions and bread crumbs and came out crispy on the outside yet soft and creamy in the centre. Since the burgers were seasoned with cumin and chili powder I figured I'd go with the tex-mex theme and top them with salsa, fresh tomato and guacamole. Seriously seriously delicious.

Black bean burgers with guacamole
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 package button mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mexican chili powder
2 tbsp beer (optional)
1 can black beans, drained but not rinsed
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
4 whole wheat burger buns
4 thick slices of tomato
salsa
lettuce

Easy-peasy guac

2 perfectly ripe avocados
zest and juice of half a lime
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 green pepper, chopped
1 tbsp jarred or fresh jalapeno, chopped (if using jarred, I add a splash of the liquid too)
salt and pepper to taste

Begin by heating up the BBQ to medium-hot. Next, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat on the stove. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and jalapeno. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder and cook the veggies until soft and slightly golden, about 10 minutes. To soak up all the bits of flavour on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with a splash of beer (whatever you happen to be drinking is fine) and simmer until the liquid has been cooked off.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse together with the beans and cilantro until well-combined but still quite chunky. Rectify the seasoning with more salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon into a bowl and stir in the bread crumbs (roughly 1/2 a cup is what I used, but you may need slightly more or less). Form the mixture into 4 large patties (or 6 smaller ones) and brush them each lightly with oil to prevent them from sticking to the grill.

Grill the burgers until crispy on the outside and thoroughly heated through, roughly 5 minutes per side. Meanwhile, combine all of the guacamole ingredients and set aside until ready to serve. Serve the burgers on grilled buns with salsa, tomato, lettuce and tons of guac!