Veg, Veggie, Vegetarian...

Well, our week of vegetarianism starts tomorrow (technically) but we began the experiment today at 1:30pm (after we had delicious Greek Gyros for lunch... with diet coke... one last kick before the ban...).

But I just finished a couple hours of cooking and have come up with a Carrot and Onion Quiche and a new recipe I made up - Black Bean Cheese Enchiladas. Recipes will follow at the end of this post! We had some yummy Orange, Strawberry, and Banana Smoothies for an afternoon snack and we will try some of the enchiladas for dinner.

Here is our plan for the week:

MONDAY:
B - Cereal
L - Carrot and Onion Quiche
D - Chilled Avocado Soup and Grilled Three Cheese Sandwiches

TUESDAY:
B - Yogurt with Fruit
L - Black Bean Cheese Enchiladas
D - Mushroom Strudel and Spinach Salad

WEDNESDAY:
B - Smoothie
L - Stuffed Pasta Shells
D - Black Bean Burgers with homemade French Fries

THURSDAY:
B - V-8 with a granola bar
L - Sweet Potato Burritos
D - Vegan Risotto and Garlic Bread

FRIDAY:
B - Yogurt with fruit
L - Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
D - Minestrone Soup and Stuffed Peppers

SATURDAY:
B - Cereal
L - French Onion Soup with Cheese Sandwich
D - Artichoke Spinach Lasagna

SUNDAY:
B - French Toast
L - Eggplant and Cauliflower Curry
D - Potato Kale Enchiladas

Stay tuned for all the recipes and for the results on how everything goes! I'm excited about all of this!!!

And now... for the first two recipes:

Carrot and Onion Quiche

Ingredients:
2 Frozen Pie Crusts
4 tbsp butter
1 large red onion, chopped
1 large chalet, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, very thinly sliced
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs
1 tbsp white wine
1 cup milk
1 cup mixed cheeses: mozzarella, monterrey jack, parmesean, and cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp savory
1 1/2 tsp seasoning blend
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp fresh chives

Preheat oven to 425. Bake empty pie crusts until crusts begin to brown. Remove from oven to cool and reduce temperature to 325.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, chalets, garlic, and carrots. Saute for 3-5 minutes then drizzle with white wine. Continue to saute until carrots are tender. Remove from heat, stir in flour, then mix in all remaining ingredients. Return to the stove and stir until cheese melts - be careful to not let the eggs cook.

Pour into the pie crusts and bake for approximately 45 minutes until filling is completely set. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.



Now the yummy Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups mixed cheese - Monterrey Jack and Cheddar
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 can Rotel, drained and reserve liquid
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans cheese soup
1 26.5 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp paprika
24 warm white corn tortillas

Grate cheese and combine with black beans, drained rotel, diced onion, salt and paprika in a large bowl being careful to not crush the beans.

In a separate bowl, mix the rotel liquid with one of the cans of cheese soup until creamy. Add the other cheese soup and the diced tomatoes (liquid included) and mix thoroughly. In a large casserole dish or several smaller dishes (this made four sets of six enchiladas for me - enough for freezing for later!), spoon some sauce into the bottom and spread around.

Take the warmed tortilla one at a time and spoon some of the bean filling just off the center of the tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam down into the sauce in the casserole dish. Continue until all the filling is gone. Top the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with some grated cheddar and a dash of paprika.

Bake at 375 until sauce is bubbly - 25-35 minutes.

ENJOY!!!