Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A to Z Challenge: V is for...



Ah, the letter V.
Now, I could be all cool and writerly and talk about "voice", but I'm not feeling cool or writerly. :)



Instead, V is for: Vegetarian!



I am not a vegetarian--although I think I easily could be. (The dang meatarian family is holding me back) But I try to cook a few meatless meals a week. Anyway, as I was cleaning out various drawers I found some recipes that I had cut out of the newspaper. (They were yellow so it had been a while)
There was a recipe for Mexican Vegetarian Lasagna so I decided to make it. It was great! In fact, it's even better the next day.


So here it is:

cooking spray
5 large flour tortillas (10-inch)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 large egg
16 ounces regular sour cream
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided use
1 bunch green onion (for 1/2 cup chopped)
1 (2 1/4 ounce) can sliced black olives (optional)
Change Measurements: US Metric

Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr
1 Preheat the oven to 400 F; Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking oil spray; Set aside.
2 Stack the tortillas on a cutting board, and slice through them lengthwise into 3 strips each (The strips will not be uniform because of their circular shape; This is OK) Set aside.
3 Pour the corn and black beans into a colander, and rinse with warm tap water to begin defrosting the corn and rinse the beans; Set aside to drain.
4 In a small bowl, stir together the tomatoes with their juice, the tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and sugar; Spoon about half of the sauce into the bottom of the dish; Cover the sauce with 5 of the tortilla strips (it's fine if they overlap somewhat).
5 Break the egg into a medium-size mixing bowl, and beat with a whisk or fork until foamy; Add the sour cream and 1 cup of the cheese; Stir to mix well; Spoon half of the sour cream mixture evenly over the tortilla layer and spread it out with the back of a spoon; Scatter half of the corn and black beans over the sour cream mixture.
6 Place 5 more tortilla strips evenly over the corn and black bean layer; Top with the remaining sour cream mixture, and the remaining black beans and corn; Place the remaining tortilla strips over the dish; Pour the remaining tomato sauce mixture over the tortillas, and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon to moisten all of the tortilla strips.
7 Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
8 While the dish bakes, rinse and trim the green onions; Slice the green onions thinly, using all of the whites and enough of the tender green tops to make 1/2 cup; Set aside.
9 If using the black olives, drain them well, and set aside.
10 After baking lasagna, scatter the green onions and olives, if using, evenly over the dish; Return the dish to the oven, uncovered, for 5 more minutes.
11 Remove the dish from the oven, and scatter the remaining cup of Mexican cheese evenly over the dish.
12 Return the dish, uncovered, to the oven, and bake until the cheese melts, about 3 minutes.
13 Remove the lasagna from the oven, and let it stand 10 minutes; Slice into squares and serve.

**The kiddo especially loved this meal!

Do you cook vegetarian? Any good recipes you'd like to share?

34 comments:

Rosalind Adam said...

Looks good. My daughter's a vegetarian so I'm always on the lookout for different recipes.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I am not a vegetarian but I cook a lot of meatless meals. This one looks good! Will copy and save!

Karen Baldwin said...

YUMMY! I'm not vegetarian per se, but the older I get, the less my taste buds want meat. I might have it once a week, fish maybe once too. Lots of salads also. I guess I'd say I'm more a "grainarian" I eat lots of homemade granola with fruit and yogurt.

Andrea Mack said...

Sounds yummy and easy. I'll have to try this.

Kristi said...

This sounds SO good! Definitely one I'm going to try for my boys...we too try to eat meatless a few times a week too. ;)

I left a little photo of something for you at my blog this week...can you guess what it is? (cue the curiosity)

Sarita Leone said...

I've been a vegetarian for years. Just a choice I made when I was a child. I'm glad I thought about what I was eating!

This looks like a great recipe, thank you. I'm going to give it a try. I need a push to get back into the kitchen. I've been living on Amy's frozen dinners for months.

Thanks for the nudge.

Manzanita said...

Thank you for the V "vegetarian" dish. I haven't eaten meat for 35 years.
Manzanita
Wanna buy a duck

Anonymous said...

I'm vegetarian when eating alone...this looks like something that would be nice to eat as leftovers, too.

Debora said...

This sounds yummy! :)
(And I was cool and writerly and posted about Voice!)

Bish Denham said...

I am your basic omnivore so I do cook vegetarian from time to time. That recipe looks good and tasty.

Mary Aalgaard said...

That looks delish! I make some non-meat meals, but rarely.

Linda G. said...

Mmmm...sounds delicious!

Rula Sinara said...

That's making me hungry. I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat so little meat that some would think so. I don't eat red meat anymore...mostly fish. I make a lot of bean salads, or even hommous.

Joanne said...

I prefer meals with lots of veggies, or a big salad, with the meat portion almost an afterthought.

Linda Kage said...

With the cost of meat and always forgetting to thaw it when I'm supposed to, we eat vegetarian quite a bit more than my hubby would like at my house!

Diane said...

Sounds yum and I do enjoy a good salad if nothing else. :O)

Kelly Polark said...

I could never be a vegetarian. I love meat! My 6yo son has never cared for meat. He tells people he is a vegetarian. But he does eat a very small bit of meat: only McD's cheeseburgers or nuggets. That is it (so I get him McD's once a week)! Otherwise it's grilled cheese, mac n cheese, cheese quesadilla or rice for him! He seriously has a cheese sandwich almost every day for lunch with the occasional pb&j!

Bossy Betty said...

I am a veggie and think this recipe looks great! Thanks!

Laura S. said...

Ooo, thanks for the recipe! I cook non-meat meals a couple times a week, too, but it's to save money! Buying pasta or wraps is a lot cheaper than meat, lol.

I could probably give up any meat except chicken. Mmm, I love chicken. That would be very difficult for me to give up.

Jeff Beesler said...

Good choice for V. Not everything has to be all about the writing thing, which you've successfully proven. Sometimes it's good to explore other venues to discuss with your followers.

Speaking of which, thanks for following me. It's a pleasure to meet you via the A-Z Challenge!

Anonymous said...

I enjoy eating vegetarian. I just have a problem sticking with it long term. I feel so much better when I do eat vegetarian. I'm going to give it another try, soon. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Carolyn V said...

Mmmm, lasagna! I'm not a vegetarian either, but I do love a good vegetarian dish. =D

Jessica R. Patch said...

One word. YUM.

Nancy said...

I don't care for a lot of meat except for hotdogs and hamburgers. I am pretty much a pasta person. And raw veggies are a treat for me, too.

Liz Mays said...

Minus the black olives, I love it!

Julie Flanders said...

This sounds really good, I've been trying to eat more vegetarian meals. Thanks for sharing this! I love anything Mexican so I am anxious to try it.

Thanks for coming by my blog, it's really great to meet you! :)

MTeacress said...

I've copied and saved. It looks good, so I'm going to give it a try. :)

I am not vegetarian, but I have a friend who is, and I'm always wondering what to fix for her besides squash and salad.

Marianne Arkins said...

This looks AMAZING. I'm so going to try it... have emailed it to myself. Thanks :-)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Sounds so yum. My hubby loves his meat and always notices if I try to serve him anything vegetarian.

Author Joshua Hoyt said...

That sounds great. I will have to try it out. Although I do love my steak and potatoes:)

Matt Conlon said...

Sounds excellent!

...where do you find all the Mexican Vegetarians?

I have a nephew who declared his herbivority at a very young age, something like 8 or so... He's 15 I think now, and going strong.

Anonymous said...

I could also be a vegetarian but I will always need my cheese. And lasagne is good way to get it. This lasagne dish sounds delicious. I'm going to have to try it out!

Kim said...

This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing! My daughter and son in law are vegetarians and this weekend she made a vegetarian pot pie which was delicious! I can't wait to try this recipe!

Craig Edwards said...

To each his own - and I do enjoy a good veggie now and again - but I am first and foremost a carnivore - and I think I always shall be...Still, always good to consider another point of view - and for that I thank you for the post! Cheers!