I Can't Follow Recipes: Vegan, Not-vegan Butternut Squash Enchiladas

For some random reason, I decided to abandon meat this week.  Well, not entirely, I did have two pieces of general Tso's chicken that Matt gave because I was really craving protein.  Or meat.  But that's just me trying to  listen to my body and what it wants.

However, this recipe I found on the internet when looking for things to do with squash and pumpkins.  And oh man, y'all are in for a treat.  Why can't I follow recipes?  I did not feel like buying canned tomatoes pumpkin if I had most of a butternut squash lying around.  Since it wasn't enough for the recipe, I also added a sweet potato.

The colors go, it's okay.

The rest of the filling, I kept the same. Wait, that's a lie.  I have a pecan allergy, so I added almonds because I think those are similar in texture.  I also don't have spinach in the house right now, so I skipped those.

Almonds are the best

Sixteen tortillas went into this meal.  Six were Trader Jose's and ten were La Banderita.  The La Banderita tortillas help up a lot better after filling and wrapping, so I might exclusively buy those from now on.  Layering was creative because those 16 did not neatly fit in a row.

GUESS WHICH ONES ARE LA BANDERITA

Since I also could not come up with a pounds of salsa verde, I mixed it with some hot goya salsa to make the 16-ounces of salsa.  It tasted so good though, highly recommended.  Before popping these into the oven, I sprinkled some non-vegan shredded cheddar.  Hence the non-vegan part of the meal, but honestly, those could have been omitted all together.

Look at my food, my food is amazing.

Put a dollop of sour cream.

And now for the outfit.  I always associate vegans with edgy-dressed girls who may or may not like other girls, I tried to emulate that look with some cargo pants and combat boots.  I thought this look was awesome.  Except for the people who asked about my cleavage.  Screw you guys.

Shirt (American Eagle), red shirt (Abercrombie), pants (uniqlo), and boots (doc marten's)

On Sunday, I might not get around to blogging because I'll be out of town (Ithaca-town), but regardless, the entry will be about navigating cuisines that are inherently not gluten-free (I'll be at a Ukrainian restaurant for brunch and those meals are typically sandwich and flour-heavy).

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Stuffed Squash

Squash had not been a food commonly consumed in my house in NYC.  The only time I really ate pumpkins was in pie at Thanksgiving and that was about it.  Through the C.S.A. weekly box of vegetables, though, we received an acorn squash.  I had never seen one before and Andrew and Andrea were fans of roasting them and/or putting stuff in them.  So, I decided to use the "and" function.

Finished product!  Acorn squash stuffed with rice, scallions, carrots, colored bell peppers, and topped with Parmesan cheese

I wasn't expecting it to be so sweet on the inside, I was pretty proud of myself for preemptively adding spices like curry powder and turmeric to the rice to add some kick to the meal.  I admittedly added red pepper flakes which are quickly becoming my favorite flavoring.

With this meal, I would try to pair it with like colors.  I usually dislike yellow, but I have this one tank top from Free People that is to die for. I have a similar skirt that's corduroy with buttons from Forever21 and a BDG olive-green cardigan to match the colors of the squash skin and the scallions. I usually wear my Minnetonka moccasins as comfort-shoes, but sadly, I will have to retire them soon.  I'll probably just replace them with a similar pair from the same brand.

Keep it yummy,
Jo