Here’s my recipe for Mexican lasagna (or lazy enchiladas) that I cooked for a community potluck I went to last night. It’s completely vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free (and still quite tasty). I made up the recipe as I went along, so the measurements are not exact but I’ve tried to guess how much I used – feel free to add more/less of each ingredient or to add/remove ingredients entirely. It’s a forgiving recipe.

Filling Ingredients

• onion, 1 diced
• zucchinis, 3 small diced
• red pepper, 1 diced
• green pepper, 1 diced
• garlic, 2 cloves minced
• corn, 1 cup frozen or canned
• pineapple, 1 cup cut into chunks
• cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup sliced in half
• black olives, 1/2 cup sliced
• black beans, 1 can
• greens (kale, spinach, chard, or even beet greens), roughly chopped
• cilantro, 2 tbsp chopped
• chili powder, 2 tsp
• paprika, 2 tsp
• cumin, 2 tsp
• cayenne, 1/2 tsp
• salt and pepper
• oil

Vegan Cashew Cheeze Ingredients

• cashews, 1 1/4 cup, soaked for a few hours in water and then drained
• nutritional yeast, 1/3 cup
• lemon juice, 2 tbsp
• olive oil, 1 tbsp
• apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp

Other Ingredients

• sauce, 2 cups of enchilada sauce or salsa
• corn tortillas, 12 small ones
• Daiya vegan cheese, preferably pepperjack
• avocado, sliced thinly

Steps

1. Fry onions in oil. When browned, mix in spices. Add zucchini and cook for a few minutes. Add peppers and garlic. Fry until all your veggies are mostly cooked. Add pineapple, corn, tomatoes, black olives, and black beans. Add more spices if necessary. When cooked, remove from heat and fold in cilantro and greens (they don’t need to be fried).
2. In a food processor, mix all the cashew cheeze ingredients together until they have a mostly smooth consistency.
3. Cover the bottom of a large casserole dish with a thin coating of sauce. Add a layer of tortilla shells. Cover with 1/2 of the filling. Sprinkle with half of the cashew cheeze (it’s ok if it’s in little blobs). Cover with a some sauce. Add another layer of tortilla shells and repeat with the remaining filling and cashew cheeze. Cover with tortillas and a layer of sauce on top. *I didn’t put sauce on the top of mine, and the top layer of tortillas got a bit too crunchy.
4. Sprinkle Daiya cheese on top and bake at 375 C for 30 minutes – covered for the first 20 minutes and then uncovered for the last 10 so the cheese melts.
5. Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with sliced avocado on top.