New Mexico's Green Chile Gravy (or Green Chile Sauce)

Forgive the long post, but today's post for Vegan Month of Gravy travels to one of my VERY favorite parts of the country, to bring you one of New Mexico's signature dishes; Green Chile Sauce, also called Green Chile Gravy, (especially by the state's "old-time" residents), as it is essentially a "gravy" with green chiles added.

If you've been fortunate enough to visit, or live, anywhere near the spectacular "Land of Enchantment", you'll have discovered that this delicious gravy-sauce and it's counterpart, Red Chile Sauce, are EVERYWHERE, even McDonald's sells green chile burgers!

But to make it right, you'll need real, genuine New Mexico green chiles. If you can't locate them locally (and few of us can) New Mexico's famous chiles are worth the trip: The fat, green chiles (sometimes called "Hatch chiles") have a distinct, fruity, rich flavor, with a fleeting but powerful heat. They've been compared to Anaheim chiles, but I tend to think there's no comparison.

During chile season, the peppers are roasted outdoors over fire in big, rotating, round wire drums. You can smell chile smoke as they char, and hear the seeds and skins popping from blocks away. Totally an experience!! When it's time to use them, the skins are peeled off and the soft chiles are chopped and cooked in whatever recipe.
The red chile is actually the same pepper, but picked later in the season so it is red (ripe), it's not roasted, but dried, ground into powder and blended with liquid to make the earthy, spicy, red chile sauce.

Chile peppers are the state's largest agricultural crop; consumed at practically every meal, celebrated in songs and at festivals, and the subject of the Official New Mexico State Question, "Red or green". The question refers to the color of chile you want on your food and you'll get asked at every Mexican (or New Mexican, sorry!!) restaurant.

So, I think the reason the rest of us know so little about New Mexico's green chiles is because they don't transport so well. They're a fragile seasonal vegetable, (well, yes, technically a fruit) and the only way to really appreciate them is freshly fire-roasted; (though the fire-roasted,frozen variety are pretty close if that's your second choice). Tasteless, acidic, canned, slimy green chiles are not an option here.

So exciting! This past summer, our "local" (Seattle) Whole Foods brought in some Hatch chiles and an authentic roaster and I had fresh-roasted green chiles without traveling half-way across the country to get my "fix". Most larger grocery stores stock the frozen tubs of "Bueno Foods" brand frozen roasted chiles though, they'll work nicely for this sauce; but for me, there's just something magical about buying a package of smoky-hot freshly-roasted chiles early in the morning at the Farmer's Market in Santa Fe...

I tend to LOVE anything New Mexico, can you tell? This gravy-sauce (which isn't a bright cilantro-jalapeno green, but more tannish-green, by the way) is absolutely heavenly, and perfect over enchiladas, tamales, chile rellanos, burritos, potatoes or grits especially.

New Mexico's Famous Green Chile Gravy

3 tablespoons oil or margarine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup onion , chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
2 cups roasted, peeled/seeded/chopped New Mexican green chile peppers
3 cups vegetarian chicken-flavor broth
1 teaspoon salt
(optional: a pinch of oregano and/or a pinch of cumin can be added if you prefer a bit more spice, personally I like mine plain.)

In heavy-bottomed sauce pan, saute onions in oil, stirring every now and then, over medium heat, until they begin to brown. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes but do NOT let garlic brown.
Stir flour in with onion mixture. Stir a bit and let flour "cook" for a few minutes. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in broth.
Add green chilies, salt (if needed) and oregano and cumin (if using) and mix well.
Bring to a boil, lower heat but keep at a simmer, stirring with wire whisk frequently, 20 to 30 minutes, to allow mixture to reduce.
The sauce should be like a medium-to-thin gravy and bind chilies and onions together.
Store in refrigerator up to a week if you can resist drinking it straight from the pan.

Creamy Green Chile Enchiladas

So I realize there are many, many versions (vegan and very NON-vegan) of green chile enchiladas out there, filled with all manner of whatever you want - but this just happens to be the recipe I've been making for my kids forever; it's easy, requested frequently, has many variations (using whatever veggies suit your fancy) and I thought perhaps it was worth sharing, especially since fresh, fire-roasted green chiles are showing up in New Mexico farmers markets about now and I'm SO jealous that I'm not there to indulge....

OK, so this recipe does tend to read like an endorsement for New Mexico green chile products, (and it's one of the few recipes I depend so heavily on canned, packaged products since I can't actually GET freshly roasted green chiles easily except when I'm actually hanging out in the Southwest) but I have to admit, canned enchilada sauce makes this recipe quick, easy, and delicious. Seriously, I don't think you should use any other chiles if you want REALLY amazing enchiladas. I particularly like the creamy sauce in this recipe as it's rich enough that no fake-cheezy products are needed.

Green Chile Enchiladas

Sauce:

1 can Hatch Green Chile Enchilada sauce (use whatever green enchilada sauce you like, but this is, hands-down, a million times better than any other)
1 carton Better Than Sour Cream
OR use THIS RECIPE for tofu sour cream
1/4 cup soy/rice/whatever milk
1/4 cup minced white (or green) onions

Mix sour cream, enchilada sauce, soy milk and onions together and set aside. If you want, you can stir some additional chopped roasted green chiles into the sauce to taste. (see below)

Filling:

2 cups of your favorite veg. "chicken" product, shredded or chopped (gardein or Morning Star Meal Starters, for example)
OR use THIS RECIPE for tofu-style "chicken" (baked, not fried)
1/2 cup chopped, fire-roasted New Mexico green chiles (fresh, or I use the frozen Bueno Foods brand, you can use whatever aproximation you have available)
1 cup cooked white beans
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garlic salt or to taste
(optional) 1 cup cooked, chopped greens - spinach, chard or kale
(optional) 1 cup chopped, sauteed mushrooms, zucchini or summer squash
(optional) black olives

Mix filling ingredients together.

To assemble:

One by one, warm corn tortillas (or flour tortillas if you prefer) in an oiled frying pan until pliable, lay on clean plate and put several tablespoons of filling down the center and roll up. Place in 8 X 12 oiled glass or ceramic baking pan, seam side down. Continue until pan is full, you can "squish" the row of rolled enchiladas together as needed if you have lots of filling to use. If you have leftover filling, spoon it around the edges.

Cover with creamy green sauce, poking it down around all enchiladas so they're covered and surrounded.
Cover pan with foil.

Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly in center - about 45 min. Remove foil and broil JUST for a minute to get top a little brown.
Sprinkle with more cilantro and some minced onion, if desired, and serve.

Green-Chile-and-"Cheese" Vegan Omelet

Yes, I realize the words 'cheese', 'omelet' and 'vegan' aren't typically used in the same sentence, let alone a vegan recipe title, but re-inventing traditional recipes is a challenge you know I can't pass up.

I had a lot of fun figuring this one out, and though Julia Child might beg to differ, she's not around any more, and I personally think the final result is definitely worthy of the name "omelet".

Now, I know there have been several "omelet" recipes in vegan blogs and brunch cookbooks lately, but most of them used only besan (chickpea) flour or tofu and the ones I tried were either a bit dense, or didn't stay together all that well - absolutely no offense to the people who created those recipes, they were good, but somehow not quite what I was craving...

Well, I discovered combining the tofu and besan, you get a slightly sturdier omelet that cooks up nice and tender yet holds together when stuffed with fillings. Obviously these don't HAVE to be "Green-Chile-Cheese" omelettes, fill them with whatever you like. Definitely use the India Black Salt though, if you possibly can. I've been using it in tofu-scramble for many years and it makes a huge difference in taste!

Green-Chile-"Cheese" Omelet

• 1/2 a box Mori-Nu Silken Tofu, firm
• 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup plain unsweetened soy/rice/almond milk
• 2 tsp. potato starch or cornstarch
• 1/4 cup besan/chickpea flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp. India Black Salt (optional but definitely gives it that authentic "eggy" taste)
• Season to taste with: pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic powder, onion powder
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. almond butter or cashew butter
• Fillings: I used a couple Tbsp. chopped green chiles and a couple Tbsp. Daiya vegan cheese, but use whatever you want. If using veggies, just cook and keep warm ahead of time, because they're added at the last.

In a food processor, blend the tofu, nutritional yeast and soymilk until smooth.

Add the remaining ingredients and process again until very smooth. The batter should be like medium pancake batter. If too thick to pour smoothly, add a bit more soymilk, but if runny like crepe batter, add more besan flour. I think I always play with the amounts of liquid, I may need to adjust that in future versions of the recipe...

Heat a small non-stick frypan/skillet over medium to med-low heat and brush pan with a light layer of oil. This really only works well with a non-stick skillet, I love my cast-iron pans too, but this just does NOT work in cast iron.
Add about 1 cup of the omelet batter at a time, and smooth it quickly and evenly in the pan. It should be somewhat thinner than a pancake. Allow to cook for about 2 - 5 minutes, until the colour changes (it will become more yellow as it cooks) and the top appears a bit dry, but don't let it get dark brown on the bottom, you may have to check a couple times.

Flip the omelet carefully (they do crumble a bit depending on how thick/thin the batter was) the best way to flip is to use two wide spatulas... Then cook on the other side for 3 or 4 minutes. Put cooked fillings on omelet. (If using "cheese" that will melt, cover the pan and cook on low another two minutes or until cheese melts) .

Fold omelet over filling, slide onto plate, top with additional garnish or cheese or salsa or parsley and serve to appreciative fans and family! (Ignore the fact that no green-chiles are showing in my photo, they're in there somewhere!)

You may need to add more liquid as you go, the batter thickens as it stands. Keep a wire whisk handy to re-mix ingredients before cooking each omelet.

Vegan Green Chile Cornbread

OK, I got to talking to friends on FaceBook today (yes, I have no life!!) and realized my "old" (old, old) favorite cornbread recipe was most decidedly NOT vegan. You can tell it's been quite a while, and that I've settled for other cornbread recipes like THIS ONE which are still amazing and good, but not the old favorite I grew up on.... So I set about veganizing my favorite! And since it turned out on the first attempt, I'm proudly posting the results!!

There's not anything terribly original or unique here. It uses creamed corn (yes, it's vegan 99% of the time, read the label to be sure) which adds corn kernals and keeps the bread moist and of course there's a few green chiles for a little heat.

Vegan Green Chile Corn Bread

• 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (you can use part whole wheat)
• 2 Tbsps. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 8oz. can creamed corn
• 1/4 cup WELL DRAINED chopped, roasted green chiles (settle for canned only as a last resort, if you have no access to the fresh or frozen authentic New Mexican green chiles...)
• 3/4 cup plant milk mixed with 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or lemon-juice (vegan "buttermilk")
• My "egg replacer" (1 Tbsp EnRGee Egg Replacer powder + 1 Tbsp ground flax seed, blended with 1/4 cup plant milk)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Pour 1 Tbsp coconut oil into a 9" pan (or cast iron skillet) and bake for 5 minutes, until the pan is very hot.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Make a well in the center of this mixture, and pour the creamed corn, green chiles, milk, remaining coconut oil and egg replacer into the well.
Stir until smooth.
Pour the batter into the hot pan.
Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove the cornbread from the oven, and allow it stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Have a great week!!

Vegan-Cheesy Zucchini and Corn Casserole

MMMmmmm... supper last night, full of garden yumminess...

That yellow blob is a zucchini and corn casserole I stole from Paula Deen or someone over at Food Network and completely re-wrote and veganized as my own. Sorry for the disjointed recipe, I sorta scribbled it as I cooked...

Also, we had some heirloom tomatoes, and quinoa with carmelized onions.

"Cheesy" Zucchini and Corn Casserole

5 or so tender zucchini (about 8 inch long), sliced or chopped

1 lg. onion, chopped

1 lg. garlic clove, minced

1 can or 1 cup frozen or fresh corn

1/4 cup roasted green chiles (optional, I didn't have them when I took this picture but added them the next time...)

1 Tbsp. dry vegetarian "chicken-flavor" bullion-broth powder

1/4 cup water

Saute onions and garlic in several tsp. coconut oil or vegan margarine until tender-crisp.

Add zucchini and corn (and chiles if using), sprinkle with broth powder and water, cover pan and saute until zucchini and corn is tender. Check to make sure mixture stays "juicy".

SAUCE:
Make a medium cream sauce, using the juice drained from cooked zucchini.

Add soymilk to make 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring to boil in small sauce pan.

Mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water.

Add to hot soymilk and cook, stirring with a wire whisk, until thickened. Turn heat very low.

Whisk in 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp lemon juice (or umeboshi vinegar), 1/2 tsp onion powder and salt and pepper to taste. (Add a sprinkle of turmeric if you like the yellow "cheesey" color.)

Remove from heat.

Pour sauce over zucchini mixture.

Pour in 9 X 9 casserole pan, top with bread crumbs, cracker crumbs or french-fried onions if you want. Bake 20 min at 350 until sauce is bubbly.

Soup in Bethlehem

My oldest daughter is a Tax Collector's servant. She's been working in Bethlehem all weekend.

And I'm OK with this new position of hers...

Actually she's taking part in an Interactive Living Nativity that goes for three nights this weekend.

Observers (that's us, the general public) get to experience a little bit of authentic "Christmas" as they walk through the 'town' of Bethlehem - wander among market stalls, pet live camels, donkeys, sheep and interact with about 60 people dressed and acting in character as townsfolk, the Innkeeper, Roman Soldiers, fishermen, shepherds, a tax collector, Rabbis, wisemen, children.

At the end of the walk-thru, you come to the stable with Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child.

It's all outdoors, at night in the cold (how authentic!), but fortunately everyone's pretty well wrapped up under those robes.

My other two daughters LOVED it too of course and we walked thru many times.

It's a beautiful, powerful and well done rendition of the Nativity - as well as huge production that I am amazed by, but glad it's one thing this season I'm not in charge of!!

My Jessika is one of the Tax Collector's servant girls and in her 'role' she fusses around his tent while he collects taxes from those entering Bethlehem. Not really a big role, but she's absolutely LOVING it. The cold weather and long hours of basically just standing while people walk by don't seem to phase her at all - and she still has Sunday night to go as well! I'm proud of her though, it's not an easy way for anyone, let alone a restless teenager, to spend four evenings.

The cast and crew are kept warm and fed by a hidden staff of more volunteers who keep soups, coffee, cocoa and cider available for quick snacks behind the scenes.

Knowing that there were several other vegetarians/vegans in the production besides my daughter, I offered to bring a big pot of vegetarian soup for part of each evenings warm-up chow.

Did they have Potato-Green-Chile Chowder in Bethlehem? Maybe not 2000 years ago, but it certainly kept a few weary souls warm tonight while the story they shared warmed hundreds of onlookers hearts.

Whatever your beliefs, hopefully this finds you safe, warm and sharing the Season with friends and family.

Here's my soup recipe (one of my daughter's favorites) and some pictures from the Living Nativity. Enjoy.

Creamy Potato and Roasted Green Chile Chowder

--5 medium Potatoes (I like Yukon Gold, this is also good with 1 sweet potato mixed with the white potatoes)
--½-pound tub of Fire-Roasted, chopped Green chiles (These are really quite mild. I get the Bueno Foods brand, they're available frozen around here, if you live near New Mexico, you're lucky enough to buy them fresh)
--1 medium Onion, chopped fine
--2 carrots, sliced very thin
--1 stalk celery, sliced
--2 tablespoons margarine
--16 ounces vegetarian broth
--3 cups Soy or rice Milk
--½ cup Flour
--½ teaspoon Salt
--½ teaspoon Pepper
--1/2 tsp. onion powder
--1/2 cup Tofutti Sour Supreme

Cube potatoes into about a 1 inch square and place in 4 quart pot.
Add onion, carrots, and celery and pour in broth and add enough water to just cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients except for 1 cup of the soymilk and ½ cup of flour.
Mix the remaining milk and flour; pour into soup mixture and simmer for another thirty minutes until thickened.
Add Sour Supreme and stir in. Blend partially with an immersion blender if you prefer it more smooth. This is also good with corn added!

Contest Entry - VEGGIE-BOARDS "Iron Chef - Battle RICE"

My fellow blogger-friends; You can ignore the following post if you want, it's my contest entry in the "Iron Chef - Battle Rice" Challenge being hosted on my favorite forum "VEGGIEBOARDS".

You can go HERE to read more about it if you're interested.

And if you're a member there, well, of course you can vote for me too!

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Recipe #1.

Patty-Pan Squash Stuffed with Black-Bean and Green Chile Rice

Cut the tops off two large (baseball-size) patty-pan squash.

Scoop insides out leaving 1/2 inch "shell".

Fill with rice filling. (Recipe below).

-- 1 cup cooked brown rice

-- 1/2 cup drained black beans

-- 1/4 cup chopped, roasted green chiles

-- 1/4 cup chopped onion

-- 1/4 cup chopped tomato

-- 3 cloves garlic, pressed

-- 2 Tbsp. fresh minced cilantro

-- 2 Tbsp. your favorite salsa

-- 1/2 Tbsp oil

-- salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder to taste

-- vegan "cheese" as garnish

Saute chiles, onions and garlic in oil until onions are soft. Add tomatoes, salsa, black beans and seasonings. Simmer until tomatoes soften. Add rice and stir until heated thru.

Check seasonings and adjust if needed.

Season inside of squashes with salt, pepper and red pepper as desired. Pack filling into hollowed out squashes. Set squash in baking dish. Top with vegan cheese if desired.

Bake for 45 min. at 375 degrees or until squash is soft - put broiler on for a moment if "cheese' isn't melted. Sprinkle with red pepper and chives to garnish.

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Recipe #2.

Hot-and-Sour Soup with Rice Noodles

This isn't exactly the "traditional" recipe but it suits our family, because I usually have the ingredients on hand.

My kids love lots of "slurpy" noodles. There are many kinds of "rice noodles" in the Asian markets but I like the fresh-packaged "Pho" style rice-stick ones best.

Use whatever you can find easily.

-- 4 cups vegetable broth
-- couple cloves garlic, pressed
-- 1-inch galangal or ginger, grated

-- 1/2 a 8 oz. package Pho-style rice-stick noodles, cooked until barely done

-- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari

-- 1 Tbsp. sugar
-- 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
-- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
-- 1 cup cubed extra firm or Nigari tofu, fried in hot peanut oil until crispy and drained. (I used already-fried tofu from the Asian market, but any firm water-pack tofu will work)
-- handful chopped fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms (if dried, soak them in hot water for several hours) *optional. These are "traditional" but I didn't have them this time, I usually do though, so thought I'd include them in the recipe.
-- handful bean sprouts

-- handful frozen peas

-- 1/2 cup or so cubed zucchini (and/or whatever vegetables you like, or have on hand: cabbage, carrots, spinach, etc.)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Heat broth in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the cooked rice noodles. Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and lime. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer while you add tofu and the vegetables.
Cook 3 - 5 minutes or until veggies are tender-crisp, add cilantro. Do a taste test, adding more soy sauce, lime juice or cilantro (or whatever you like). Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro and lime.

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Recipe #3.

Mushroom, Rice and "Cheese" Burgers

This is my favorite way to use leftovers! Don't we all have a couple old-ish mushrooms sitting around and a cup or two of rice from Chinese take out?

In food processor, grind 5 large mushrooms, 1/4 an onion, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp. soy sauce and a thumb-size chunk vegan "cheese" (or a couple slices or a scoop tofutti cream "cheese").

It should be thick and sticky after blending together. (The "cheese" works as a binder and keeps the end result from being too crumbly).

Add 1/4 cup chopped pecans from Froggy's Grandma's pecan tree (or sunflower seeds, cooked lentils or black beans or whatever you like) and blend just enough to chop coarsely and mix into mushroom "paste".

Scrape mixture into a bowl and mix in enough cooked rice (about 2+ cups) to make a firm "dough" to be shaped into patties or burgers.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and sage.

Form into manageable palm-sized patties and fry over med. heat in non-stick skillet. (If they stick, use a couple drops oil).

Brown on both sides and serve like a burger with lettuce, pickles, onions, etc.

Yum!