Kimberly,
I used the Vegan 8 recipe for Vegan Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake. I love me some Mexican so this was right up my alley – beans, corn tortillas, cheesiness. It was probably more carbs than I probably should have consumed but I’m justifying it with, “they are complex carbs”. Anyway, I made the recipe mostly as written and was pleasantly surprised with the result.
My biggest problem with this is calling it cheesy. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, cheesy. Raw cashews do not magically become cheese because they have been pureed. They might lend themselves to providing a creaminess, but that is where the similarity ends. So, instead of using the cashews, I used white beans (per her suggestion if you have nut allergies). I’ve used pureed cashews for a couple of other dressings and find it bland and gritty. I wanted to try the beans to see how that would fair. It ended up being quite tasty and since there were black beans in the layers, I didn’t mind one more layer of beans on top.
Again, the end result is good but it lacked complexity. (I’m finding that 8 ingredients is limiting the depth of flavor quite a bit.) I used sprouted corn tortillas and while tasty, they were dry. Next time, I will probably dip the tortillas in enchilada sauce to moisten them before layering. The salsa I used was mild as I don’t care for really spicy food. However, the addition of green chilies would have been a nice touch and I ended up using them on top of my leftovers. Tony just piled on the hot sauce and was happy as a clam. It also screams for more texture. Everything was kind of mushy. It needs crunch or chew or something else besides soft. When I figure out what to use, I’ll let you know.
The hardest part of this vegan thing is the dairy. Nothing comes close to real cheese. Nothing. And it makes me sad.
Carolyn
carbloversgovegan.com 
Hmmm. I see what you mean about flavor and chew–not that I’ve tried it yet, but just by reading your review and eyeballing the ingredient list. It seems silly to me to make this dish something that it is not and can not be, i.e. “cheesy.” I am thinking tomatoes (in the casserole, not the “cheese” sauce” and lots more herbs and spice: cilantro, maybe some green chiles, etc.
It strikes me that the recipe may have sacrificed to keep it at fewer than 8 ingredients by not throwing in onions–and depending on how it cooks up, maybe that would help with the needed additional texture?
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