Black Bean and Brown Rice Burritos

This recipe was one of our favorite vegan dishes when we were trying the Daniel Fast diet. I could not use the store bought tortillas due to the preservatives, so I decided to try making my own with whole wheat flour and I am so glad I did because I have made them 3-4 more times since. Homemade tortillas are delicious and though they take more time, I think it's totally worth it. It also proved to be a fun thing for my youngest daughter who is three to help out with. If anyone would like the recipe to make wheat totillas on your own, post a comment and I will give you my recipe. As far as these Black Bean and Brown Rice Burritos go, my entire family gave them a big thumbs up!

    Filling
    1 cup cooked brown rice
    1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
    2 cloves garlic, crushed
    salt, to taste
    1-2 teaspoons basil
    2 tablespoons olive oil 

    Pico De Gallo:
    3 fresh plum tomatoes, diced
    2 yellow onions, chopped
    1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (if you don't remove the seeds, the sauce will be very hot)
    1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
    2 tablespoons lemon juice
    1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions. When rice is done, add beans, garlic, salt, basil, olive oil, and mix.  Let spices blend in. 

2. To make pico de gallo, add vegetables to bowl, and then add lemon juice and vinegar. 

3. To serve, pour rice mixture down the center of a 12" tortilla, top with pico de gallo, and roll up.

Serves: 4
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Avocado Spring Rolls Recipe & Review

I didn't actually make these, my husband Denny did the honors while I was working on another dish. The spring rolls were excellent tasting, but hard to make look pretty like those you would buy out. By the third time making them though (which speaks volumes if we made them three times) he had the rolling up part down and was really doing a good job making them look nice. 

These would be a great side dish with any latin dish or a good snack. Even my children liked them, and they aren't always easy to please. 


Avocado Spring Rolls

    4 spring roll wrappers
    2 large avocado, pitted and sliced
    2 garlic cloves, chopped
    dash hot sauce
    1 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a bowl with warm water, place a spring roll wrapper.  Leave it in the water for 15 seconds, or until the wrapper just becomes pliable.  Remove wrapper and place on a plate.

2. In the center of the spring roll wrapper, place a fourth of the avocado. Add a fourth of the garlic and hot sauce. Wrap spring roll making sure to close ends. Repeat till avocados are all used.

3. Heat oil in pan. (I prefer grapeseed oil. It has a milder flavor than olive oil and is a bit more healthy.)

4. Fry avocado spring rolls till all sides are slightly brown and crispy. You can enjoy this with the dipping sauce of your choice. I prefer them plain.

Source of recipe: This recipe was inspired by the Avocado Egg Rolls at The Cheesecake Factory.

Makes: 4 rolls, Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cooking time: 5 minutes

Vegan French Onion Soup & Review

This was the first recipe I tried during our Daniel Fast diet. I did not change the recipe, but my advise would be to use less wine than recommended, maybe an 1/8 cup instead of 1/4 cup and instead of using 4 onions, I think I would only use 2-3 because it was more like a bowl of onions than soup with 4 large onions like the recipe recommends. I have only had French Onion Soup with beef broth base, so the vegetable broth and wine made for a slightly different twang. It is quite good, but you have to be in the mood for onions. I suggest eating this with some whole wheat bread or crackers. Enjoy!

    4 large sweet onions (or just regular onions), sliced
    2 tablespoons margarine
    1 teaspoon sugar
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon dried thyme
    1/2 tablespoon dried mustard
    2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
    1/4 cup red wine ( I used Cabernet)
    6 cups veggie stock (use a good one!)
    pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Heat margarine in large stockpot over medium heat.  Add onions, sugar, and salt.  Cook for 1 hour (yes, 1 hour!), stirring frequently.

2.  Add thyme, mustard, soy sauce, vegan wine, pepper, and a little more salt.  Let vegan wine cook down for a few minutes.

3.  Add veggie broth, bring just to a boil, and...its done! Serve with warm vegan french bread.
 

The Daniel Fast

I have been reading a book by Donna Partow titled "Being the Woman God Wants Me to Be" and though I do not agree with everything Donna suggests through this 90-Day renewal guide, I do respect her as an author and as a Christian woman. She has some great advise about how to eat healthy, budget your money and even how to start your own home-based business, but the most important point Donna makes in this book is that above all other things, you need to have a personal relationship with God and make time alone with him every day. My next several blog entries are going to be based on my husband and I trying The Daniel Fast diet. This diet was suggested by Partow in the book as a good way to kick-start a diet and detox your body and glorify God. We tried it and loved much of the new foods we ate or the basic foods we forgot were so good, like vegetable soup. I hope you will check my posts for some great meals that will not only help you loose weight, but make you feel great and they actually taste delicious, which seems odd for a diet with the name "fast" in it. Come back again and this week to see some interesting new recipes and tips for a great way to jump-start your diet, while gaining some perspective into a great story from the Bible.