Lightlife Smart Ground Mexican Style

I've been on a Mexican food kick lately -- after making my spinach enchiladas three times in the space of about a week, I picked up some flour tortillas and made some "chicken" quesadillas (one using Boca chicken patty, another using Quorn -- and the Boca one was better!). And after that, I have made several variations of a veggie super-taco. The first super-taco, made with Morningstar Farms Grillers burger strips cooked with taco seasoning, was super-yummy. Then, for something different, I decided to try a new fake ground beef product: Lightlife Smart Ground Mexican Style. It comes pre-seasoned with Mexican seasoning, and all you have to do is heat it up and throw it in your taco, burrito, or whatever.

It has a real ground beef-like appearance and texture, more than the Morningstar Farms crumbles I'm used to. The flavor is very wheat-gluteny, but I'm starting to get used to that, so it didn't bother me much. My only real complaint is that I wish it had just a little more seasoning added, but I can always mix in a little extra when I'm cooking it for myself.

The price (in the store where I usually shop) is about the same as a package of Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles, but you actually get 12 oz. of the Smart Ground, while MSF's deceptively larger package only has 8 oz... but either one is plenty for several servings.

Lightlife has many other fake meat products, including plain ground beef and ground sausage. Since I was fairly pleased with this one, I'm looking forward to trying more in the future.

Oh, and it's got 9 grams of vegan protein per serving.

**Edited to add: According to the Morningstar Farms website, the MSF Grillers Recipe Crumbles comes in a 12 oz. package. Even though I distinctly remember comparing the two products in the store and deciding to try the Lightlife product because it had more in it, I thought I should mention this in case the MSF product comes in different sizes... or in the unlikely even that I was wrong. ;) Because I don't have any MSF Crumbles in my freezer at this moment, I cannot say for sure.

Protein Source: Soy, wheat
Allergens: Soy, wheat
Vegan

Recipe: Spinach Enchiladas

This is my version of Enchiladas Espinacas, inspired by a vegetarian dish of the same name from a local Mexican restaurant called El Gitano. When I eat it there, I always mix the beans in with the enchiladas, so for my own version I decided to just put the beans inside to begin with. ;) The bottled salsa verde I have used with this recipe isn't nearly as good as the green veggie sauce they use at the restaurant, but if I ever find a good recipe for that, I'll share it here too.


My version of ENCHILADAS ESPINACAS
(spinach enchiladas)
Serves 2-3

Amounts of filler ingredients are guesstimates. Adjust amounts to suit your own taste.

- 6 Corn tortillas (larger size)
- About 4 Baby Bella mushrooms (or equivalent), diced
- About 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed
- About 1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
- About 1/3 of a large bell pepper (or equivalent of other pepper), diced
- About 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1/2 tomato, diced, seeds removed
- 1/2 can of red beans, rinsed and drained
- 16 fl oz of salsa verde or green enchilada sauce
- About 1/2 to 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (or as desired)
- Salt, pepper, and Mexican spices to taste

Preheat oven to 375F.
Saute mushrooms, pepper, onion, corn, and spices until onion starts to look translucent. Add spinach and cook for another minute or two. Move cooked veggies to a bowl and mix together with tomato and beans. Heat tortillas in microwave according to directions on package to soften them. Place a tortilla in baking pan, fill with veggie mixture, and roll up. Repeat with other tortillas, laying them close to each other in pan. Top liberally with sauce and grated cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes or until hot inside.