Chunky Green Burrito….vegan style!

Back when I used to live in Mesa, AZ, I used to go to this Mexican food restaurant called La Comida Ranchera.  I loved their chunky green burrito.  I was missing the taste, not necessarily the meat.  With vegans, I see and hear the conversations about how our former lives were cruel, and we shouldn’t crave that taste.  My thought is that everyone is on their own journey, for whatever reasons that they have. A friend of mine, when she first went vegan, she did so because heart disease runs in her family.  She learned how being on a vegan diet is beneficial for our health.  She said at first, that leather and the other animal by-products didn’t bother her.  But now she says the longer that she is on a vegan diet, the more she is starting to think otherwise, how could you not?  For myself, I did it because I didn’t want another sentient being to suffer, just because I am selfish and can only think of the pleasure of eating or wearing animal by-products.  And the longer I am on this journey, the more I learn about the health benefits as well as reducing one’s carbon footprint.  It just makes sense.  I know I still have a long way on this journey.

However, I still can remember that chunky green burrito 20 years later!  That’s not to say that I don’t get nauseous at the thought of eating a dead animal, because I do.  Anyways, I tried out Gardein’s Sweet and Sour Pork-less bites.  I thought they were good, but not a big fan of Sweet and Sour.  The texture though…I thought it had potential.  Soooo….I bought some Hatch green chile enchilada sauce.  I cooked this together with the Pork-less bites, I added a little Chao cheese.  In the picture I sampled a little with Spanish rice.  But boy, in burrito form, it is reminiscent of that Chunky Green Burrito from years gone by…cruelty free!

My Healthy Lunch

I’m trying to eat less vegan junk food.  I made mango salsa, with fresh mangoes, tomatoes, a little piece of jalapeno, and since I didn’t have cilantro, I put basil in it.  I then made a veggie wrap that I put hummus, field greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and mango salsa on a whole wheat tortilla. So freakin’ good!

Southwest Inspired Eggrolls

In my former life, I used to make what I called, Mexican Eggrolls.  I cooked up shredded chicken with cream cheese and jalapenos and green chiles and wrap it up in an eggroll wrapper and cook in oil.  I would make guacamole to go with them.  Well, I don’t eat chicken or cream cheese anymore, so I brainstormed on what to make for a filling for the eggroll wrappers.  I ended up stir-frying  some veggies and added black beans for that Southwest flair.  The veggies I had on hand were spinach, zucchini and mushrooms.

I then placed the veggies in an eggroll wrapper and added shredded vegan pepper jack cheese and rolled them up.  Heated oil in a pan, and browned the eggrolls on all sides till it was crispy.

I whipped up some quick guacamole. I’m kind of lazy when it comes to making guacamole, and since the ingredients in guacamole are avocados, and basically what you find in salsa, I buy a quality fresh salsa at Whole Foods that is organic and fresh.  I took an avocado and halved it.  Half I spooned into a bowl and mashed it up, the other half, I diced and added to the mashed portion and mixed it together.  I squeeze a little bit of lime juice into the avocado mixture, add a scoop of the salsa and mix into the avocado mixture to make guacamole! It’s really delicious and quick and easy.  This was my special valentine day dinner I made for myself!