Gonna Go Walk the Dogs

VEGAN MOFO 2014 Round Up Southwestern Style!

It has been a great month hasn't it! Here at Gonna Go Walk the Dogs we celebrated Southwestern Cuisine! I am gonna to Round it Up in photos for y'all---and we'll see you next year! Be true to yourself -- and be vegan!

 

Get Your Greens On

Wow! Have you missed me?

Has it really been a month already? Time sure does fly.

This post is going to be all about taco salad --after all, we are talking Southwestern food this year. I love catering taco bars -- so easy and everyone gets exactly what they what. Serve the tortillas on the side or pop crispy chips over the top...use faux chicken spiced with cumin, pepper, oregano, salt...or chickpeas...jackfruit...veggie crumbles...I like to spice up rice as well. Here is my go to:

5 cups cooked rice
1 mango, diced
1/4 pineapple diced
1/2 green and red bell pepper, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1.4 cup minced parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
S&P to taste

Red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 cup canola:1/2 cup rice vinegar: 1/2 cup raw sugar or agave

Shake oil, sugar and vinegar together. Pour over ingredients and toss. Refrigerate 1 hour or more.

12 + servings

Take the tradional taco salad and make it yours- you can chop tomato, onion, peppers, avocado, olives and serve with a yummy salsa. And don't forget the cheese!

Serve over your favorite greens and you have a feast!

Whatever you do, have fun and enjoy your meal!

You know, we shortened our trip this year do to the weather and because of that we sort of missed out on some of our stops. But that doesn't stop us from eating good food. 

Have a great vegan mofo day everyone . Stay tuned tomorrow for the wrap up!

Potato Nachos in Maricopa Arizona...yum! Stay tuned more Southwestern food soon!

Eating avocado and soaking up the dry heat in Laughlin, Nevada. More southwestern food coming soon.

Fold 'Em or Roll 'Em

Hey everyone! It is Vegan Mofo Day 24! Can you beleive that we have been doing Southwestern over a week already! Wow! And tomorrow the food party really begins! I am sooooo stoked.

Today we have traditional snack food --these are so addictive! Crunchy, gooey and delectable...fried or baked. What are we talking about? Quesadillas and Taquitos! 

You can put anything between two tortillas and bake it but nothing is better than cheese. I used Follow Your Heart for these beauties...it melts really well. My fav thing to do with quesadillas is to serve them along side of other taco-type ingredients...heap a scoup of refried beans covered with cheese upon some shredded lettuce, then sprinkle with chopped tomatoes. Awesome!

The basic facts regarding quesadillas --

1. Season your tortillas! Whether you use corn or flour--makes no difference, you have to add cumin, salt, pepper at least. Get creative!I like to bast mine with some Earth Balance mixed with salt, pepper, cumin and cilantro.

2. Don't skimp on the cheese! Cardinal rule guys!

3. Bake them, don't fry...really. They taste way better!

Check it out:    

Now the facts about taquitos...

1. They need to be fried...to hold the roll here is no alternative. I use a pair of tongs and hold them in oil until they are perfectly browned.

2. Stuff and roll them however you wish! There is no right or wrong way. Just don't overfill.

3. Don't ever be afraid to experiment...use traditional corn or  ap flour...or even chickpea...smile:) Are you getting the idea? HAVE FUN!!

Tomorrow catch us on Instagram!

And just take a look at taquito heaven--these are stuffed with yam:

Sizzle!

Are you getting your mojo on for this southwestern food? We will be going on our planned , then cancelled , then planned again trip tomorrow. The shortened condensed version. Look for us on Instagram...meanwhile, we love a quick grill on a high heat and that means fajitas! For this dish we used Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken and went all out. The secret to a yum fajita is two fold:

1) Use Quality  Marinade ingredients

2) Marinade Your Items Overnight

Yes, yes. It is all about the marinade. Of course, you need to cut your veggies and "protein" all the same size and heat it on a hot hot pan...and be sure that your tortilla of choice is ready to go, along with your guacamole and salsa...let's see:

Sizzling Fajitas

The Marinade:

1 orange, juiced
2 limes, juiced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 chipotle chiles, in adobo sauce
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

The Items:

1 package Beyond Meat Chicken, Grilled and each piece sliced in half

Salt and pepper

2 bell peppers, thinly sliced (1 red and 1 green)

1 large onion, thinly sliced

Lime juice

12 tortillas of choice, warm

Salsa and Guacamole of choice

Process the marinade ingredients and place in a one gallon ziploc bag. Add the items and marinade overnight.

Heat a cast iron skillet with a little oil and fresh cumin . Add the contents of the bag when the pan is very hot and cook quickly until veggies are tender -about 4 minutes. 

Serve tableside with guac, salsa and tortillas

Serves 4-6

Hmmm, Enjoy!

Meatless Mondays Go Nacho

The perfect snack food -- so comforting. Nachos. Cheesy, melted, and gooey delicious. I am going to share my favorite nacho cheese recipe. It melts! You can put this stuff on anything. (Brussels Sprouts, yum)

Here it is:

Nachos Cheese:

1/4 cup diced tomatillos

3 tsp diced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

Roast in oven at 375 degrees for 6 minutes then and cool. Set aside.

Take:

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/8 cup green lentils - cooked and mashed

1/8 cup vegetable margarine

Salt and Pepper

Add to veggies, then place all ingredients in blend and mix, adding a little water at a time until you reach the consistency you like. If you heat and reheat, you will need to add a little water or stir it up well each time.

Makes 2 cups plus

Killer good:

This recipe of nachos on the left included seitan sausage, olives and chiles.

The recipe above takes a tortilla, slather on the cheese sauce and roll up and bake -- top with chilies or capers.

 

 

 

 

Here is a yummy one. Saute some soyrizo with fresh corn and chilies. Take chips, layer on the nacho cheese and top with the soyrizo mixture. Bake. Hmmm.

What's your favorite vegan nacho recipe? Whatever it is, try this nacho cheese. 

You won't be disappointed.

Stuff It

Yay! Vegan Mofo Day 21! Happy Sunday!

Yesterday we visited the Farmer's Market and I picked up some beautiful poblanos. So what's for supper? You got it - Chili Rellanos! While most purests stuff them with cheese, I changed it up a bit. Try this recipe:

Chili Rellano Supper

2 poblano chiles, roasted, skinned*

10 mushrooms, sliced

Handful of Red Chard

6 asparagus spears, cut up

1/4 onion, sliced

2 tbsp Earth Balance

Dash Chipotle powder

Salt and Pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 cup Rice Parmesan

Saute the mushrooms, onions, asparagus and chard with the Earth Balance and spices. Cool slightly. Add the cheese and mix well. Stuff the chilies.

* Never roasted a pepper? Place the peppers directly on an open flame and allow them to get charred -turning them as they cook. Place them in a plastic bag with ice water, the skins will easily peel off. Pat them dry :)

For the coating:

Mix 2 tbsp vegenaise, 1/4 cup soy milk, and 1/8 cup Rice Parmesan together- dip the chiles and then dredge them in bread crumbs- bake 40 minutes. I served these with some roasted fingerling potatoes and yummy salsa.  Spicy and smoky! Yum. Enjoy!

Light & Easy Peasy

With all the hot weather we have been having, I wanted to fix something light and delicious...well, tomatillas really hit the mark. Usually you use this veggie in salsas but why not consider changing things up and eating it raw? Tangy, a little sour yet oh so refreshing! Put a small dice on these babies and let's mix it up in a salad:

Tomatillo Salad with Arugula

3 tomatillos, papery skin removed, wiped with damp cloth, and finely chopped 

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and diced

1/2 cucumber, diced

6 sundried tomatoes, diced

1 bunch finely chopped scallions

1  finely chopped red bell pepper 

1 ear corn, cooked and removed from cob

1 pureed roasted pepper of choice ( I used ancho)

2 tsp cumin

Juice of 2 limes

5 tsp minced cilantro

1/2 tsp salt , pepper

1 cup arugula

 

Mix and serve...    

 

This recipe will feed 8 people as a side but get ready to double it because everyone will want seconds!

Have fun!

Pucker Up

Today I have a real treat to share with you. We went hiking along the lagoon today and I spied prickly pear cactus. And they had pears! And they were ripe--yes! I picked several and then we headed home for lunch.

I have made sorbet with cactus pears but I couldn't wait to try these. So I did the next best thing. I made lemonade. It was sweet and tangy in all the right ways. You have to try this:

 

2 Prickly Pear fruit, peeled

5 lemons, juiced

4 cups water

1 cup ice

4 tbsp agave syrup

Put everything in your Vitamix or blender and process.  Yum! Look at that color!

Oh, and by the way, if anyone has a tip on how I can rotate this photo on typepad, please leave me a comment. Thanks!