Vegetarian Tortilla Pie 

Every person with a passion has someone, or some number of people they look up to for inspiration. One of my passions is cooking, so naturally I have many cooking idols. Donna Hay's cookbook was the first cookbook I ever bought, and its still my favourite cookbook. With technology being as wonderful as it is, I don't really need to rely on cookbooks. There are literally thousands of food blogs out there, this being one of them. After digging around, I have narrowed them down, and my absolute favourite one is "Ambitious Kitchen." Monique, the blogger mastermind who created the blog has some truly wonderful, easy to follow, super healthy recipes. The recipe I am about to share with you is one of hers, and it is absolutely to die for. Its a vegetarian dish (vegan, if you use vegan cheese), and it will have your carnivore roommates walking around complimenting how good your house smells, making meatless Monday a breeze.

                         Feeds 4-6                     

Roasted Veggies

  • 1 purple yam, small dice
  • 1 sweet potato, small dice
  • 2 diced bell peppers
  • 1/2 head of broccoli, chopped
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 1/2 TSP chili powder
  • 1/2 TSP cumin
  • Pinch of cayenne

Enchilada Sauce:

  • 1 TSP olive oil
  • 1 diced yellow onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 TBSP chili powder
  • 1 1/4 TSP cumin
  • 1/2 TSP cayenne
  • 1/2 TSP oregano
  • 3 C tomato sauce
  • 2/3 C water

Other Layers:

  • 1 package of Pacific brand refried, vegetarian pinto beans
  • 3 whole grain tortillas
  • 2 C shredded cheese

1. Preheat your oven to 400 Celsius. Toss all of your roasted veggie ingredients in a large bowl. Lay them out on a baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, stirring around halfway through. Remove veggies from the oven and lower the temperature to 350 Celsius.

2. Melt olive oil in a sauce pan, and add onions. Cook until translucent. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds more. Add the spices and cook for another minute longer, or until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and water and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Spray a round cake or springform pan with nonstick spray, or lightly coat it with oil. Layer in the following way: 1/2 Cup enchilada sauce poured into the pan. follow with 1 tortilla, 1/2 Cup refried beans, a third of the veggies, 1/2 Cup enchilada sauce, 1/3 Cup of cheese. Repeat 3 times. The original recipe calls for 4 layers, but my cake pan was not big enough. Your last layer will have the remaining tomato sauce and remaining cheese on top.

4. Bake at 350 Celsius for 20 minutes, until the cheese is all melted.

 

Recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.