Recipe: Cheezy Chikn Enchilada Soup in the Slow cooker

About 7 years ago, I was at a potluck at work. One of my coworkers brought a big pot of Chicken Enchilada Soup. It was a hit. Everyone was talking about the soup and asking who made it. I was one of the lucky ones who went home with a printed copy of the recipe. It was my coworker's version of it and I couldn't find anything online that was exactly the same as it. This became a favorite recipe in our house. Of course, I tweaked my coworkers version a little (and it wasn't vegan because I wasn't there yet.) We made this at our house weekly it seemed like. Then I went vegan and I never had it again, until now. I kept saying I was going to veganize this recipe but I couldn't figure out how to veganize a block of mexican velveeta cheese. I finally figured it out and adapted it to cook in the slowcooker. Here it is.


Ingredients:

1 pkg of Gardein Chikn (or other vegan brand) Strips or Scallopini, cooked and cut into pieces
1 Large Diced Onion (I use the frozen chopped onion)
2 Garlic Cloves, pressed
6 cups Vegetable stock
1 cup Masa Harina
1.5 cups Enchilada Sauce
2- 8 ounce packages of Tofutti (or other vegan brand) Cream Cheese
1 can Diced Tomatoes and Chiles
4 cups of Corn (I used frozen)
Salt to taste (I used none)
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
3-4 Tbsp Fresh Chopped Cilantro (or 2 Tbsp dried)
1 scoop Nutritional Yeast (I think my scoop is a TBSP but add as much as you like)
Optional for Garnish: corn chips, green onions, pico de gaillo, Daiya cheese shreds


Directions:

I have found that this goes much more smoothly if you do all the prep in advance like cooking and cutting up the chikn and sauteing the onions and garlic in a little bit of oil or margarine.
Add the 6 cups of vegetable stock to the crock pot. Whisk in the masa harina a little at a time until there are no lumps. Turn the slow cooker on high and close the lid while gathering and preparing the other ingredients. Add the enchilada sauce, spices, garlic, onions and cream cheese. Stir. The cream cheese will take a little while to melt. Reduce to low after the soup is hot and add chikn, corn, tomatoes with chiles and nutritional yeast. Mix well and let cook for about 2 hours on low. Mix well before serving. Serve with corn chips and green onions (or whatever you like.) Enjoy.