I MissED Mexican Cuisine

Since I started restricting foods because of my allergies, I've slowly (and painfully) had to say 'goodbye' to Mexican food.  Tacos, enchiladas, rellenos, taco salads, and tortillas chips all typically contain corn and/or cheese and/or wheat.  But yesterday, I was tinkering in the kitchen, and tweaked the veggie burger mix, slightly and used it as loose "ground beef" instead forming it into burger patties.  I got the idea to substitute burger seasoning with taco seasoning, and voila!  Taco "meat"!  It's not exactly like "meat" but it's pretty close in looks and texture.  Today, I looked up an enchilada sauce recipe from a trusted source, whose recipes have yet to fail me--Thank you, Danielle Walker!--and this was the finished product:

What you're looking at is my first attempt at vegan enchiladas!  I have yet to taste it as I write this up, but the anticipation of it is, quite frankly, fun!

Here's the breakdown of how I made these:

• The recipe for the sauce can be found here.  Her recipe uses chicken broth, but I used a vegan broth instead.  I also substituted avocado oil instead of ghee or her other suggestions.  (I believe it just needed to be a mildly flavored oil.)
• I sliced a zucchini lengthwise using my mandolin slicer (or a regular vegetable peeler if that's all you have).  Then, the taco "meat" got rolled inside each slice.
• Taco "Meat" - I piece-mealed a few recipes together and tweaked them based on how I envisioned the final product.
• Here is the base vegan burger recipe I followed from memory, then I...
• riced a head of cauliflower in the food processor, then moved to a separate bowl.
• riced 4-5 mushrooms in the food processor, then moved to a separate bowl.
• added a beet (about the size of my fist) and riced it too, then moved to a separate bowl.
• put chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic, then moved to a separate bowl.
• roasted 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds in the oven (400 deg for 7-8 min), then "riced" in the food processor.
• omitted the coconut flour (since I'm not making patties and don't need it to stick together).

• Once all that was prepared, sauteed the onion and garlic in a large pan (that can hold all of the ingredients combined).  Add the mushrooms, beets, and pumpkin seeds.  Let it cook down a bit (about 3 minutes, or until you can start to smell the aroma of cooking mushrooms).  Add the cauliflower and mix well.  Let it cook about 3-5 minutes, then add about 1/2 cup of water (or vegan broth for added flavor) and let the entire mixture cook until all the liquid is absorbed by the vegetables and the veggies are cooked through (but not soggy).
• Add taco seasoning, to taste.  (I used this recipe here.)  I estimate about 3-4 tablespoons would work, but it's really up to you how strong you like the spices in your taco filling.  Stir well, until evenly dispersed.
• Once all the sliced zucchini are rolled with filling, top with enchilada sauce and bake at 350 deg for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling.

I plan to top this dish with sliced avocado, but guacamole would work very well too!  (I choose to not use guac to reduce the amount of sodium, as it adds up very quickly with Mexican food.)  Serve with a side of steamed veggies, and dinner is served!  Hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine!

Note: I'm pretty certain this would work for grass-fed ground beef or turkey, too.  I just happened to attempt it as a vegan dish since that is what I had prepared and ready to go.