Veggie Wraps
I came up with these bad boys in the search of a use for
the extra veggie-burger patties that are always left over from my veggie burgers after I use up all the buns- It's really not the same in-between two pieces of toast :P It turns out that the patties are a great meat substitute that can take any form! The great thing about these wraps is the ability to make many at a time and store them for a pre-made dinner/lunch that's nutritionally dense & delicious! The more fillings you use, the less you will need of each filling (I made 3 big wraps with one patty in the recipe below for example). As with the other recipes on here, you can modify this basic idea in any way you want (sub-in your favorite fillings & tortilla's!)
You'll Need
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~1/4 cup quinoa
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1 tomato (chopped)
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~1 handful baby spinach
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1/2 green pepper (diced)
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1/2 red onion (diced)
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5 button mushrooms (chopped)
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1/2 avocado
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small handful of fresh cilantro
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1 large clove garlic
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veganaise
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salt, pepper, chipotle spice & chili powder
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*cheddar cheese (optional)
These wraps are almost as filling as they are delicious, and provide complete proteins! As you can see from the ingredients above, this recipe is also vegan if you drop the cheese as a topping :)
Start by adding your quinoa to some boiling water and reduce the heat as it cooks. In the meantime, wash and cut up the onion, mushrooms & pepper. Fry them together on medium-high with a bit of your preferred oil (I used avocado). If your tortillas are frozen like mine were, now would be a good time to place them in the oven for a bit at 350ºF. You want them to be soft not hard and crunchy so dont leave them in too long! If you let them get crisp they will break when you try folding them to make the wraps.
As the veggies are frying you can also chop up the tomato/slice the cheese/wash the cilantro. Add the spinach to the fried veggies just before they finish cooking and stir regularly to prevent the tender leaves from burning.
The burger patty can be fried before after or at the same time as the veggies (depending on how much of a rush you are in and how good at multitasking you are). Simply breakup the patty with your spatula as it cooks, making sure to rotate & flip it until all parts are evenly cooked. You can decide here whether you want it softer or more crunchy (crunchy=longer cook time).
Once the quinoa is cooked, strain and put aside. Once the veggies/patty are cooked and the wraps are warm, remove the veggies/patty from the heat and take the wraps from the oven. Spread some of the the avocado across the middle of each wrap -you will not use the whole avocado half...the rest is for snacking ;)
You want to leave a small section at the bottom of each wrap without filling to allow for easy folding. -from here just pile it all on!
Now if you don't have fresh cilantro that is totally understandable because it comes in large bunches and soils quickly (and you usually will only need a small amount each time it is used). So what you can do is buy it right before making cilantro-filled things and try to use as much as you can fresh before freezing the rest. Frozen cilantro is not even close to the flavour of the fresh leaves but is better than no cilantro- it will still impart some of the magic touch of this fantastic herb.
Press the garlic through a garlic press (or finely chop it if you don't have a press). And split up the garlic mush in 3: spreading each third onto the wrap in a line beside your fillings. You can also sprinkle it on top but I find that spreading it on the warm wrap is the easiest way to get even distribution :) Because the garlic is fresh and potent, you really don't need much to get the flavour we are looking for here.
I added the cheese at the top so that it would be sure to melt under the hot plate of the panini press.
If you dont have a press, simply fold your wrap and place face down on a heated (medium heat) and very lightly oiled pan. Once the one side has browned and molded flat (2-5 minutes) flip and cook the other side :)
The final verdict?
Holy mother of veggie wrap goodness!! Let me tell you guys- there is a meatless heaven.. and it is damn good.
