Mexican sauces on Enjitomatadas

Sauce goes over fresh tortillas, with toppings like avocado, crema (or plain yogurt + water), cilantro, chopped white onion and cotijia cheese.

Tomato version (rojas)
Blend:
2 garlic cloves
1-2 jalapenos
28 oz of tomatoes

Tomatillo Version (verde)
Blend:
3 garlic cloves
1 serrano or jalapeno
1.5 lb tomatillos, husked
3/4 C cilantro

Whichever version you choose, pour into hot saucepan w/ olive oil and reduce to thick sauce.

Add 2 C broth, stir, and simmer 10 minutes.

Slow Cooker Beef & Potato Tinga

Cut 1 pound of potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams into 1 inch cubes. Lay on bottom of slow cooker.

Cut 2-3 lbs of beef chuck or pork shoulder into 1 inch pieces, trimming fat. Layer on top of potatoes in slow cooker.

Blend:
28 oz can tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles from can in adobo (choose cans without caramel coloring if possible)
1 TB chipotle canning sauce
1-2 mild (guajilo) chiles, toasted over flame and de-seeded
1 TB worcestershire sauce
1 tea oregano
3 garlic cloves
1 onion
1.5 tea salt

Pour the tomato mixture over the meat in the slow cooker.

Slow cook on "HIGH" setting for 6 hours (you can use the "warm" function afterward for up to 4 hours).

Eat over rice or quinoa, or in tortillas. Or use as a tamale filling!

Goes well with avocado, queso fresco/cheese, white onion and cilantro garnishes.

Small Batch Blue Cheese Dressing (1 cup) (dairy)

Combine in blender:
1-2 oz blue cheese (depends on how strong your cheese is)
1/2 C mayo or greek yogurt
1 TB cream or buttermilk
2 TB water or enough to cover vitamix blades
1 clove garlic
1/8 tea smoked paprika
1/2 of chipotle pepper from can with adobo OR 1/4 tea chile powder
<=1 TB white vinegar or komezu

Great over stiff greens/salads like romaine, iceburg, cabbage or with veggies like green beans, asparagus, broccoli or potatoes.

Raw Pistachio Chai Latte

Combine in high speed blender:
1/4 C raw pistachios
3 dates, pitted
vanilla bean
1/4 tea cardamom seeds
pinch of cloves (whole)
chunk of ginger root
1/2 tea rose extract/rose water
pinch cinnamon
2.5 - 3C water

Vegan Apple Crisp (wheat free, no sugar added)

Slice apples uniformly into a pyrex baking dish.

Toss with lemon juice, cinnamon, vanilla extract.

Combine in a food processor to make the topping:
1 C rolled oats
1/2 C pitted dates
1/4 - 1/3 C coconut oil
1/4 - 1/2 C pecans
1/8- 1/4 tea salt
almond extract
cinnamon

Sprinkle topping over apple mixture in pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until soft inside and slightly crispy on top. Or it would probably be good raw just as is without baking.

Pork Stew (Slowcooker)

1. Saute 1 sliced onion in pork/bacon fat.

Add 5 cloves crushed garlic, stir. Once turning golden but not yet brown. Take off heat.

2. Put cooked onion/garlic in blender. Add:
1/2 jalapeno pepper
handful parsley
handful rosemary
2 tomatoes
1-2 cups water (enough to cover)

Blend until smooth.

3. Put the following in crock pot/slow cooker:

2-3 lbs pork roast, trimmed and cut into chunks
2 carrots, cut rangiri style (irregular chunks)
1 onion, cut into chunks
2-4 bay leaves 4 black pepper corns 1/2 tea cumin 1/2 tea paprika

4. Pour liquid (onion/garlic/tomato) from blender over the stuff in slow cooker to cover.

5. Turn slow cooker/crock pot on low heat for 9+ hours or on high for 4+ hours.

6. When ready, stir in 1 tea salt (or more to taste) and additional cracked black pepper.

Mexican Red Rice

Prep:
dice 1 large yellow onion
mince 2-3 cloves garlic

Heat pan over high heat. Add 1-2 TB oil or bacon fat, swirl to coat pan. Add onion, lower to medium heat and cook until translucent and starting to brown.

Then add 1 C basmati or long grain white rice to pan. Stir into oil/onion and toast the rice - about 45 seconds (careful not to burn the rice).

Add 8 oz chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce, 3/4 tea salt, 1 tea chili powder, 1 - 1.5 C broth/stock and additional water if needed.

Simmer with lid on until rice is cooked/absorbs liquid (add water if rice isn't cooked yet)- about 15-20 minutes.

Asian Rice Wrapper Lettuce Veggie Wraps

This is one of my favorite non-salad-y ways to eat up lots of veggies. Even though it's cold, tastes totally different from a salad!

FYI: Rice wrappers are round thin sheets of rice paper that are dry/hard and sold in the asian stores.

Wrapper:
Rice wrapper- soak one at a time in warm water to soften.
Lettuce- lay lettuce ontop of rice wrapper, then load in fillings

Filling:
Grated carrot
bell pepper
thinly sliced red cabbage
sesame seeds
Optional fillings:
green onion
cucumber, cut in matchsticks
zucchini, cut in matchsticks
basil leaves
fried rice sticks

Dip: raw ranch dressing

Small Batch Raw Vegan Ranch Dressing (1 cup)

Yummy ranch dressing- fabulous on veggie wraps. Based on a recipe from this blog!

Blend until creamy:
3/4 C cashews
scant 1/2 C water
1.5 TB lemon juice
2.5 TB cider vinegar
2.5 TB olive oil
1.5 TB agave
0.5 tea garlic
1.5 tea onion powder
0.5 TB salt
0.24 tea basil

At the end add 2 TB parsley and pulse to chop coarsely.

Blender Hummus

Blend until smooth and creamy:

1 can chickpeas or approx 1 C cooked
1/4 C water
1/8 C lemon juice (from approx 1/2 large lemon)
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 tea salt
1 clove garlic

Optional: serve with herb oil, pine nuts and/or diced roasted red pepper or sundried tomatoes.