Vegan Black-Eyed Pea And Hominy Enchiladas - My Annual New Year's Day Recipe For Good Luck!

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day brings good luck!

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My Annual New Year's Recipe
As many of you know, I always start the year with a black-eyed pea recipe. For many decades, this tradition has brought me lots of luck so I dare not stop now.
This year, I'm making enchiladas.


Easy is Good
My son makes the best enchiladas I've ever eaten. They take hours to make and like most of his gourmet recipes, they are complicated, dirty lots of pots and pans and require far more patience than I have.
My friend also makes excellent enchiladas. One day she told me her secret - Lawry's. OK, I was surprised. She's half Mexican so I assumed she slaved all day making some family recipe. But I was delighted to know this as I could now make enchiladas without much fuss. I won't say enchiladas made with Lawry's are better than my son's, but they are quite good and I have used this ready-made seasoning mixture in today's recipe. For those of you who love spice, Lawry's is mild so plan on adding some cayenne, jalapeño or chili powder to give it more heat.

A simple way to make enchilada sauce,
Unfortunately it is not gluten free. 

I Love Hominy
I was introduced to hominy while living in Texas - the same great state where I discovered black-eyed peas. Hominy is corn without its hull and germ. When hominy is ground it's called "grits". I love hominy in all forms. When whole, it has a wonderful, chewy texture. It combines well with the black-eyed peas and gives a lovely texture to the meatless enchiladas.

White hominy

Vegan Cheese
For those of you who are vegan, lactose intolerant or just wanting to avoid dairy because you just watched "Forks over knives" or read Joseph Keon's "Whitewash - The disturbing truth about cow's milk and your health", you are probably still searching for a cheese substitute. To be perfectly honest, it's pretty impossible to replace the taste and texture of real cheese. But lots of people are pretty excited about Daiya, a dairy, lactose and casein free cheese substitute that is also gluten and soy free. I use the Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds in this recipe. If you are not vegan, you can substitute regular cheddar cheese. If you are trying to wean yourself from dairy, use half cheddar and half Daiya. 

This tapioca based cheese substitute is free of dairy, gluten and soy. 

Black-eyed pea and hominy enchiladas
vegan
[makes 8 enchiladas]


For the sauce
1.6 oz package Lawry's enchilada sauce spices & seasonings
6 ounce can tomato paste
3 cups water
pinch of cayenne, or to taste (optional)
For the enchiladas
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounce can black-eyed peas (or 1 3/4 cups cooked), drained
15 ounce can white or yellow hominy, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup Daiya cheddar style shreds, divided
8 corn tortillas


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Take out a 9"x13"x2" baking dish.

To make the sauce, mix the Lawry's spices, tomato paste, water and cayenne (optional) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Make the enchilada sauce first and let it simmer while you prepare the filling.

In a frypan, heat oil and cook onions for 5 to 8 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute. 
Add drained black-eyed peas, hominy and cumin and mix thoroughly. Cook until heated throughout.
Add half the cheese and stir until melted. 

Stir half the cheese into black-eyed pea mixture.

Pour 1 cup sauce in the bottom of baking dish.
Coat each tortilla with sauce and place 1/8th black-eyed pea mixture in center of each tortilla.
Roll up the tortilla and place seam down in baking dish.

To make enchilada, place filling in the center of tortilla.

Roll up placing seams on the bottom of pan.

Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and cover with remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Bake until bubbly and serve.

Per enchilada: 248 calories, 5.5 g fat, 1.3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 6.5 g protein, 40.6 g carbohydrates, 6.4 g dietary fiber and 724 mg sodium.


Happy New Year and thanks for following my blog!