Food Friday: Vegan Black Bean & Corn Enchilada Casserole

Now that Food Friday is a thing here at Mad Art Lab, get ready to learn all about Tex-Mex. Great Tex-Mex doesn’t happen easily, and great vegan Tex-Mex is sometimes even harder. While I’m not vegan anymore, I do still enjoy veganizing my dishes from time to time, and this dish is well worth the effort.

This recipe is for a casserole, but works just as well if you want to put the filling inside tortillas like traditional enchiladas (you’ll notice that’s what I did in the pictures)! You can make just the filling and put it in tacos. You can even put the filling over lettuce for a taco salad. Such versatile! Wow!

Tex-Mex is heavy on the cheese, so veganizing some dishes requires lots of nooch and other cheese substitutes. You can find nooch and TVP (textured vegetable protein) at your local Whole Foods (I know, I know), or other health food stores. For the most part, the rest of the ingredients should be pretty easy to find! And if you’d rather have a non-vegan version, you can always use regular cheese and sour cream.

You’ll need the following ingredients to make your TVP, enchilada filling, and enchilada sauce. It’s a lengthy list, so buckle in!

Ingredients: 

Ingredients for the TVP

• 1 Tbsp Canola Oil
• 1/2 Red Onion, diced medium
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, diced medium
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1.5 Cups TVP, hydrated
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp smoked black pepper

Ingredients for the filling

• 10 vegan corn tortillas
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can kernel corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can Ro-Tel (Like some extra kick? Get Habanero Rotel!)

For the Sauce

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 2 8oz cans of tomato sauce (or 1 16oz can)
• salt to taste

Optional Toppings

• Fresh cilantro
• Vegan Cheese
• Vegan Sour Cream

Did you get all that? Well you aren’t done yet! There’s a lot of prep work for this recipe too… Here goes!

Instructions

For the TVP

1. Re-hydrate 1 1/2 cups of TVP in 1 1/3 cups of water.
2. In a large saucepan, saute bell pepper, garlic, and onion in Canola oil.
3. Once peppers and onions have reached desired consistency, add in TVP, soy sauce, and spices.
4. Saute until brown.

For the filling

1. Cook and drain beans and corn.
2. Mix into TVP, along with lime juice and Ro-Tel.

For the sauce

1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, and spices in a saucepan (without heat turned on)
2. Add 1/4 cup of vegetable broth and stir into a thick paste.
3. Whisk in the remaining broth 1/2 a cup at a time.
4. Whisk in the cup of water.
5. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir in the tomato sauce.
6. Allow to cook until the sauce thickens to desired consistency (about the same as tomato soup).
7. Add salt as necessary.
8. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the casserole

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cover the bottom of the casserole dish with enchilada sauce.
3. Soak 5 tortillas in enchilada sauce and layer the bottom of the casserole dish with those tortillas.
4. Cover the tortillas with 3/4 of the filling mixture.
5. Soak the remaining tortillas in enchilada sauce, and layer the tortillas on top of the filling.
6. Cover the tortillas with a generous amount of enchilada sauce.
7. Layer the remaining filling mixture on top of the tortillas, and cover with the rest of the enchilada sauce.
8. Optional: Cover the top with vegan cheese (this isn’t necessary, as the nutritional yeast gives the casserole a rich cheese flavor).
9. Cook for 25-30 minutes.
10. Soak the remaining tortillas in enchilada sauce, and layer the tortillas on top of the filling.
11. Cover the tortillas with a generous amount of enchilada sauce.
12. Layer the remaining filling mixture on top of the tortillas, and cover with the rest of the enchilada sauce.
13. Optional: Cover the top with vegan cheese (this isn’t necessary, as the nutritional yeast gives the casserole a rich cheese flavor).
14. Cook for 25-30 minutes.
15. Let cool, and enjoy!