Mexican themed holiday dinner

Last night Mark and I had his family over for a holiday dinner at our place. I am working Xmas, Xmas eve, and I was working on their family holiday party last week, so I felt rather guilty about not being around on the holidays...my solution was to invite everyone over to our house for a Mexican themed vegan meal.
It was a great night. There was a little bit of a late start due to some drama involving a car accident, but everyone was fine, no one was hurt, and it provided some amusing entertainment for the night.
The meal was pretty tasty, and even the non-vegans got seconds, so I thought I would share my recipes.

Mark made red and white sangria for everyone.
I asked everyone to bring chips and salsa for apps, Robin brought some homemade guacamole which was great.
I made a couple things...

1. corn salad
ingredients:
olive oil
1 chopped red onion
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp corriander
3 cups corn
1 chopped orange pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
2 chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp cliantro
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions:
cook the onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Then add the chili powder and corriander and cook for one more minute.
Add the peppers, corn, and tomatoes to this.
Remove from heat and place in a bowl. Mix in the cilantro.
Whisk the red wine vinegar with 4Tbsp olive oil. Toss in salad.
Serve cold or at room temp (I served cold but will probably serve at room temp next time). This is a picture of leftovers for lunch the next day, and this was probably my favorite dish of the night.


2. Caribbean rice and beans
Next was a side dish of rice and beans...simple and easy to make, not too fancy but satisfying.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 chopped red onion
1 chopped red bell pepper
2 Tbsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
2 cups basmati rice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
dash of allspice
dash of thyme
dash of nutmeg
3 cups water
2 cans red kidney beans

(I was too lazy to measure out 1/4 tsp so that's why I wrote a "dash")

Directions:
In a sauce pan mix heat the olive oil and stir in the pepper, onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until the onion is soft.
Stir in the uncooked rice and coat with oil.
Add the brown sugar (feel free to add more, I think I did), nutmeg, allspice, and thyme. Stir in the water and reduce heat to low, cook for about 25 minutes.
Once the rice is cooked stir in the beans for 5 more minutes to heat them.
Serve!


3. My favorite Sweet potatoe and black bean enchiladas
Ingredients:
6 sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp garlic
3 cans black bean
1 can diced tomatoes
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 jars generic salsa
14-16 tortillas

Directions:
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes
Place in a greased pan and back at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
In a skillet heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and chili powder and cook for 2 minutes.
Stir in the sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
In a lasagna/casserole dish spread a layer of salsa.
Spoon the mixture in to tortillas, roll and place in a row face down.
Once completed, layer salsa and remaining mixture on top of the tortillas.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

This recipe was for 9 people. so feel free to pare it down.
I also typically serve it with tofutti sour cream.


And last but not least, vegan and gluten free cupcakes!! This whole tray was full before people had dessert, very tasty and sweet! (just a box mix, but I still think it does the trick).