Easy Vegetarian Recipes

Nobody cooks quite like mom. Whenever I visit home, I always request my mom’s calebacitas. It’s a vegetable side dish that can be paired with any Mexican entrée, or if you like it as much as I do, you can just eat a heaping serving as a meal. Here is my take on my mom’s dish.

Ingredients
4-6 Zucchini
1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
1 medium onion, diced
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions
Slice zucchini into 1/4″ or 1/2″ rounds. Place in a pot, and add water until zucchini are just covered. Cook over med-high heat until zucchini are tender and centers become slightly translucent. Drain and set zucchini aside.
Re-heat pot over med-high heat, and add olive oil. Add onions and stir frequently until onions are tender.
Reduce heat to med-low. Add cooked zucchini, corn kernels, and tomato sauce. Stir gently to blend ingredients.
Fold in cheese little by little, until all ingredients are mixed together.
Eat!

Tips
Don’t over cook the zucchini, as they will break apart and become mushy.

I adore Rachael Ray. I’m fairly certain that I’d still be eating mac ‘n cheese and canned soups everyday of my life if it weren’t for her. Her recipes are always easy and fast, and they never have totally bizarre ingredients. You can usually find them at your local supermarket.

This Rachael Ray recipe was shamelessly stolen from the Food Network website. It’s ridiculously good. I did, however have some issues slicing open and seeding the charred poblanos. To make it easier on myself, I’d just split the poblanos in half, seed them, and fill them without charring them. Also, you’d obviously want to use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock to make sure it was vegetarian, and eliminate the cheese to go vegan.

TIP!
I had lots of left over filling after I made these. I saved it in the fridge, and put it on top of baby spinach for a salad the next day. It was awesome.

Ingredients
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, divided
1 bay leaf
2 cups white rice
4 large poblano peppers
6 ears corn on the cob or 3 cups frozen corn kernels
3 tablespoons corn, peanut or vegetable oil, divided
1 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained well
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 palm full
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, eyeball it in your palm
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 pound spinach leaves, deveined and coarsely chopped
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
2 limes, zested, juiced
1 cup shredded Chihuahua cheese, Asadero or Monterey Jack

Directions
Preheat broiler or grill pan to high.

Heat about 3 1/2 cups stock in a sauce pot with a bay leaf to boiling. Add rice, cover pot reduce heat to low and simmer 18 minutes until tender.

Place poblanos under broiler or on hot grill and char evenly all over, 15 minutes.

While peppers and rice are working, scrape the corn off the cobs or defrost frozen corn and dry by spreading out on clean kitchen towel. Heat 2 tablespoons light oil in a skillet over high heat. When the oil smokes or ripples add corn, onion, jalapenos and toss until the vegetables char at edges and onions are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high and add in garlic, fire roasted tomatoes and season with cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook another minute or 2 then turn pan off.

Place the cilantro, spinach, scallions, lime zest, half a cup of stock and a tablespoon of oil in food processor and process into coarse green paste. Stir into your rice pot in the last 3 to 4 minutes of its cooking time.

Sprinkle the lime juice over the corn mixture.

Split the charred peppers open but not in half with small sharp knife then scoop out the seeds with a small spoon. Place peppers in a shallow baking dish and stuff each split pepper with lots of the corn mix, top each pepper with 1/4 cup cheese and place back under broiler to melt and char the cheese.

Serve peppers on beds of green rice. Yum-o!

This quick and delicious recipe was inspired from a similar one found in New Vegetarian Cuisine. I like to change recipes around to fit my taste. I add or remove ingredients, and I add more of what I like and less of what I don’t. It makes recipes perfect for me and my family. I encourage you to do the same with any recipes you come across that you might like, including this one.

Pair this one with Spanish rice, and you’ve got a stellar vegetarian meal with a Mexican flair!

Ingredients
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups shredded carrots
1 (16oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large tomato, chopped
1 (6-8oz)can tomato sauce
1 small can chopped green chili peppers (This makes the dish very spicy. Use less if you prefer less heat in your dish.)
1/2 tsp chili powder
3 large whole wheat tortillas
1 cup shredded low-fat colby-jack cheese
2-3 Tbsp minced scallions

Directions
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Warm oil over medium-high heat, add onions and garlic, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Cook until onions are tender. Add carrots, cook for 2-3 more minutes.
Stir in beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, and chili powder, bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, or until slightly thick.
Place 1 tortilla in bottom of prepared dish. Top with a little less than half of bean mixture and 1/3 cup of shredded cheese. Add another tortilla. Top with all but about 1/4 cup of bean mixture. Add 1/3 cup shredded cheese. Add final tortilla. Top with remaining bean mixture, scallions, and final 1/3 cup of cheese.
Bake 20 minutes, or until heated through. Let cool 5 minutes, then cut into wedges.
Eat!