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Tex-Mex Dinner
All of the following are recipes from a tex-mex dinner I cooked last Saturday night:

Tortilla Soup

• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño, finely sliced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can chopped tomato
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 lb chicken breast, cut in small chunks and pan fried (optional)
• grated Monterrey Jack cheese and cilantro to garnish

If I would have had corn tortillas, I would have cut them into strips, fried them in oil, and used them as garnish. Make the stock. Dump all the ingredients in the soup and simmer for a couple hours. I added the chicken to bowls at the very end to keep the soup vegan. Makes 6 cups, serves 5-6. I marinated the chicken in chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and Jack Daniels.

Sources: [1] [2] Notice my recipe is much simpler than either of these two.

Cheese Enchiladas

• enchilada gravy (my variation below)
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 4 tbsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • big pinch salt
  • tiny amount ground cinammon
  • 1/3 tsp. sugar
  • 5 tbsp white flour
  • 5 tbsp cold water
• 1 dozen flour tortillas
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 500 g (1 lb) grated cheese (Monterrey jack would be best, I used a gouda / mozzarella blend)
• 250 g (1/2 lb) cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C. Heat all the ingredients for the gravy except the flour and cold water. Stir those together in a separate cup and add slowly to gravy while whisking (to prevent lumps). For each tortilla, spoon some gravy on it, then about a tablespoon of onions, then about 1/4 cup of Jack cheese. Roll it up and put it seam side down in a baking pan. Top the enchiladas with the rest of the gravy and cheddar cheese. Bake 20 or so minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly. These came out kinda salty, so I've reduced the salt in the sauce from what I actually used.

Mexican Red Rice

• 1 cup long grain white rice (I used Basmati)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (or tomato puree)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups water
• 3 tbsp. olive oil

If I were to make this again I might add some finely chopped carrot. Fry the rice in oil until it starts to get brown. Then add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove cover, stir, and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes or until the rice dries out a bit. Serves 4. Sources: [1] (cracked out) [2]

Black Beans

• 2 cans black beans
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped

Dump it all into a pot and simmer until kingdom come. Serves 6.

I also made guacamole, pico de gallo, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.