steamed buns

Chinese New Year is here! Kate has been very excited. This is her year - the Year of the Dragon. Although we missed the massive cleaning that is supposed to take place fifteen days before the start of the New Year, we can still celebrate with some traditional Chinese fare, as well as, perhaps, some not so traditional ones. 

If you do not have Bryanna Clark Grogan's Authentic Chinese Cuisine, I trust by next Chinese New Year it will be on your shelf. It makes vegan Chinese cooking versatile and complete. 

My kids love Steamed Buns and so this was on top of their list. Well, I wound up not steaming them because ... uh, I didn't want to. Bryanna said it was okay to bake them, so I did. They were filled with a curry 'chicken', for which the recipe is also in her book. Although I had made dozen and a half of the buns the day before so I wouldn't have to cook the following day's lunch, by morning two-thirds of the buns were gone. It must have been that Dragon, I am sure, who had been quite hungry after 12 years of slumber. 
Or my kids.

enchitaco + enchinacho

Enchiladas are another one of those meals that everyone always wants at our house. I know if they get it as often as they wish for it, they'll get tired of it - and then there goes a tried-and-true.

So I put another spin on the enchilada, while making it easier to make, to boot. For some reason my family has not been so hot about tacos; another of those over-made meals, I suppose. Or maybe I just haven't jazzed it up enough. I blame this on them, too. Whenever I have the slightest variation in an old favorite, I get called on the carpet, "It's not the same!"

Not that that ever stops me.

This variation of the enchilada is to make it into a taco, hence Enchitaco. I cooked the beans with the enchilada sauce, melted some cheese (Daiya) into it at the end, layered it into a hard taco shell, added lettuce, tomato, olives, sour cream (Tofutti) and a bit more sauce.

This was so well received that when we ran out of hard shells, we made Enchinachos - same idea, but layered onto warmed tortilla chips. By the time I got the camera set up again to take a pic of it, it was all gone. I should have photographed the empty plate, but that would have been just plain mean.

 Oh! man was this good!

 Isn't there some football thing coming up? This is a great version of the nachos if you're thinking of feeding anyone. 

Cost Breakdown

oil, onion, flour, spices: $1

tomato sauce: $2

beans, corn: $5

Daiya, tofutti: $3

nacho chips or shells: $3

olives, lettuce, peppers: $2

Total to make 16 tacos:

$16.00

ENCHINACO OR ENCHITACO PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE