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Thursday, August 30, 2012

My Vegan Lentil-Sweet Potato Empanadas

An original recipe from my Kitchen to Yours.

So it's very easy to make and can even be made ahead of time if you need to. I adore everything about this recipe and I'm very glad I came up with it. Let me know how yours turn out!

Refrigerated Pie Crust
Dry Green Lentils
Sweet Potato
Extra Firm Tofu
And Various Seasonings.

First take the pie crust out to thaw at room temperature. This usually takes like an hour SO while you wait make the filling. I found that if you make the ingredients separate the flavor becomes so unreal!

1. Lentils. These take a while if using dry lentils like did 30-40min. Bring a pot of veggie broth to boil and then add the lentils. For a kick I added a nice helping of cayenne pepper and paprika but that's just because I love spicy. Add some minced garlic and simmer until perfectly tender.

2. Sweet Potato. Dice into very small cubes, season with cumin and thyme, and sauté in a pan.

3. Tofu. Extract the water by squeezing with a paper towel Crumble into a pan and sauté with yellow curry powder, soy sauce, and a little taco seasoning if available.

Then combine the filling ingredients and let cool completely. I refrigerated over night but It works just as well if you pop in the fridge for 10min.

Roll out the pie crust to desired thickness and spoon in the filling. Seal edges with a dab of water and pinch closed with a fork. Bake in the oven at 375 until the edges are browned, I guess about 25-30min. Sorry I don't remember exactly how long.

Voila! Serve with Avocado Mash and Pico de Gallo. (or Cheese and Sour Cream if you want to de-veganize the recipe)

You know, having typed all this I guess it was a little harder than I thought.