Southwestern Vege-Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Didn't dice the avocado. got in a hurry. Topped with a little sour cream.

I'm from Texas so I have to have lots and lots of Tex-Mex recipes - especially enchiladas. I have recipes for enchiladas with flour tortillas and corn tortillas. This is one of the corn tortilla types. I used several types of vegetarian chicken including Morningstar Farms chicken strips, Fri-Chik cut up into strips, Morningstar Farms Vege-Chicken Nuggets, and other vegetarian chicken substitutes. The rest of the enchilada recipe is what makes the dish good anyway.  Here we go....

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups vege-chicken cut up
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 to 1 tsp chili powder to taste
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp Canola oil
• 1/2 onion chopped
• Red or green bell pepper chopped
• About 10 oz spinach, fresh or frozen chopped
• 1 1/2 cup salsa mild to hot depending on your taste
• Corn tortillas (6 inch)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack is good but so it cheddar, mozarella and once I grated up some leftover Brie), 
• 1/4 lb cubed Velveeta.
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes 
• 1 Avocado peeled and diced
• Chopped black olives
• Cilantro for garnish
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray
2. In a medium bowl, combine chicke, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Add to lightly oiled skillet and cook over medium high heat for 4 to six minutes until vege-chicken starts to brown. Remove and set aside.
3. Add oil to the  skillet. Add onion and pepper; cook over medium heat stirring occasionally about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the spinach. Add cubed Velveeta, diced tomatoes, milk  and salsa. Stir until melted. Add chicken srips to sauce
4. Coat a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
5. Fold sauce and chicken mixture by spoonfuls into corn tortillas and roll. Place tortilla rolls side by side in the casserole until you fill up the casserole. Spread the rest of the sauce and chicken mixture over and around the enchiladas. 
6. Cover with shredded cheese and bake 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
7. Peel and dice avocado. Garnish the top of the casserole with avocado, black olives and cilantro. 
8. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. 

Serving Suggestion:

Serve with sweet corn and maybe a salad with a nice Ranch dressing and some tortilla chips, iced decaf tea or caffeine free Dr. P. 

Tom King.

Vege Chicken Wings

This was an experimental dish I tried with some Morningstar Farms Chicken Strips. It's pretty simple and my head chef tasted it and approved, so you know it's good. The MSF strips are pretty small, but you could adapt the recipe to use cut up strips of Fri-Chik or pretty much any other vege-chicken substitutes including both canned or frozen types. The trick is how you prepare it.

Ingredients:

• Vege-chicken strips or cut into strips
• Two eggs
• 3 tbsp milk
• Martha White cornbread mix (no lard in that one)
• 1/8 cup flour 
• Pinch of salt (to taste)
• Vegetable oil

Directions:

1. If frozen, thaw the chicken strips
2. In Fry-Daddy or deep pan, heat vegetable oil - enough to cover the strips
3. Set out two wide flat bowls 
4. In the first bowl mix two eggs and the milk - stir with a whisk
5. In the second bowl, pour the box of cornbread mix and flour and salt if desired
6. Lay out the vege-chicken strips or cut up the vege-chicken pieces into strips 
7. Set the vege-chicken strips into the egg wash bowl. Coat the pieces evenly with the egg wash. I cover the bowl with a plate and shake it so everything gets covered.
8. Put the strips into the cornmeal mix and flour mixture and coat the strips evenly.
9. Place the strips into the hot oil and fry them till they are golden brown. 
10. Drain the cooked pieces on layers of paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serving suggestions:

Eat them like you would chicken wings. They make a nice appetizer or part of a snack tray or as a main course. I even got to try out an odd bottle of wing sauce somebody gave me. Hot but tasty. You can also make dipping sauces with those little cups like they give you at the Mexican restaurant. You can buy them four for a buck at the Dollar Store.  They go great with ranch dressing, barbecue sauce (Bull's Eye or KC Masterpiece is the best), sweet and sour sauce or wing sauce.

See, even vegetarians can have fun foods!

© 2017 by Tom King

Vege-Chicken Rotini Alfredo

This one's quick. You can make your own Alfredo Sauce. It's not very difficult. If you're in a hurry, Paul Newman's Alfredo Sauce works great. You can stir it all up ahead of time on Friday and the flavors will be thoroughly infused throughout the dish by potluck on Sabbath.

Ingredients:

• Bag of Rotini (I like the whole wheat kind)
• Jar of Alfredo sauce.
• Morningstar Farms Vege-chicken Strips
• Olive oil
• 1/2 large onion chopped
• Chopped Bell pepper

Directions:

1. 
   Prepare the Rotini according to directions - al dente' is best. When done, drain in collander.
2. In a large skillet, saute' onions and Bell pepper and vege-chicken strips in olive oil, till the vegetables are caramelized and the strips begin to brown.
3. Pour in Alfredo sauce and heat until it starts to bubble.
4. Pour Rotini into a casserole then pour the sauce over the pasta and stir it up. 
5. (Optional) If you'd like to crisp up the top of it, you can scatter black olives, croutons, French-Fried onions or even club crackers over the top.
   

Serving Suggestions:

Cover and refrigerate overnight or eat it hot right out of the pan.  If you premake it to carry to potluck, simply reheat it in the church warming oven or heat in the oven (better) or in the microwave to 170 degrees internal temperature.

© 2017 by Tom King