Vegan Carne Asada Burrito

Hey y'all! I know it's been a while, but hopefully this will make it up to you.

Over the weekend I made a batch of seitan as per the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe. The seitan is amazing, I can't say enough about how great it is. So far I've made Buffalo seitan, cold udon noodles with peanut sauce, and just now I made a burrito. It was delicious and easy.

Vegan Carne Asada Burrito

(These are the ingredients I put in my burrito, but only because I had this stuff around the apartment.)

Rice

Refried Beans (I had some in a can)

Tabasco

Vegan Ranch (I made it this weekend to go with the Buffalo seitan, it's really good)

and the seitan (which I cut into small strips/chunks and fried in a little vegetable oil with salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, and garlic powder until the outsides were crispy).

A bit of chopped onion.

It was really satisfying and came together quickly!

Life Without Eggs, One Step at a Time

A few days ago I decided to take the plunge into veganism. I had already given up animal milk for about a year, so really this just means no more eggs/cheese. The biggest hit for me is the eggs, because I really love a good egg. As a result, I've been eager to find recipes that can help me not miss them. So, last night I decided to make a batch of breakfast burritos.

First, I fried some potatoes. You really can't go wrong with fried potatoes. I normally keep a bag of frozen potato chunks in my freezer (so-called 'southern style hash browns'). But, this time I did it the old fashioned way, starting with real potatoes, some vegetable oil, and a cast-iron skillet. I fried them for a while and put a lid on them after they were crispy so that they would cook all the way through. After they were done I poured them on a paper towel to sop up some of the oil and so that I could use the skillet.

Next, I started in on the rest of the filling. I started with the recipe for scrambled tofu in Vegan with a Vengeance (I'm not going to include the recipe because you need to purchase this book). I followed it for the most part and the results were better than expected (come on, crumbled tofu, that doesn't sound good, but it is). I bought some Soyrizo, which I had never tried before since I never liked meat chorizo in the first place. I put some of it in the skillet with some more oil and browned it for a bit before adding some red onion, green pepper, and jalapeno. Then I added garlic and the spice mix in the book (minus paprika, plus cayenne, black pepper, and a little bit of chili powder). Then, I added the tofu, put the potatoes back in, and scrambled away. After that was done, I wrapped the filling up in large tortillas, eating one and freezing three. I am not a very good burrito-roller, I'm afraid, but it'll do. All in all, the burritos are very good!

They are just the right amount of soft (from the tofu and soyrizo) and crunchy (from the potatoes and vegetables). If I'd had some vegan sour cream and/or cheese, I would have added that as well. They are definitely as good as (or better than) egg-based breakfast burritos. I highly recommend that you make your own version of these very soon. They're obviously amenable to alterations and experimentation, so go wild!