Cupcake Kitteh - vegan, gluten free, soy free: VeganMoFo2011 Day 27: A Mexican Meal

Thursday, October 27, 2011

VeganMoFo2011 Day 27: A Mexican Meal

7:54 AM |

Posted by Mandee |

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By now regular readers will know of my love for the cookbook Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero. I've posted about it many times but I know there are still a lot of vegans who don't own it, yet!

If you don't own it but you'd like to have a Latin-themed get together, I have a few recipes that would make the perfect lunch or dinner with friends or family.

This menu serves 4 and all the recipes are also gluten and soy free.

Jalapeño Black Beans

Prep + cooking time: 40 minutes

These beans are a great filler for tortillas or gorditas (recipe below). Feel free to alter the amount of chilli to suit your tastes.

2 T olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 jalapeño, de-seeded and sliced

1 red capsicum, de-seeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 t ground cumin

2 t dried oregano

2 C cooked black beans

1 C vegetable stock

salt to taste

¼ C coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large fry pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the jalapeño and capsicum cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the black beans to the pan along with the vegetable stock. Simmer for 20 minutes or until most of the stock has been absorbed, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Remove from heat, add salt and coriander.

Gorditas

Prep and cooking time: 20 minutes

Gorditas are thick corn tortillas that you can cut open and fill. You can find the pre-cooked corn meal needed to make them at some veggie shops and ethnic grocers, if you can’t find it just use corn tortillas.

2 C P.A.N pre-cooked corn meal

2 C warm water

1 t salt

½ t baking soda

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, the dough should be firm and easy to handle, if it’s too dry and crumbly add more water, a teaspoon at a time until it holds together. Divide the dough into 8 and roll into balls, place on a plate and cover with a damp piece of paper towel.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a grill pan. Wet your hands then flatten a ball of dough into a disk about 7 - 8cm wide, using your fingers to smooth any cracks that appear. Once the pan is hot, add to the pan and cook 4 at a time. Fry for 6-8 minutes then flip and cook for another 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the pan, place on a plate lined with paper towel.

To serve with gorditas:

Tomato salsa – chop baby tomatoes and shallots, combine with 1 T of lime juice and 1 T of olive oil.

Cashew cheese - soak 1 cup of cashews for an hour. Add to a food processor with 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.

Avocado – mash two avocados and add a squeeze of lime juice

Coriander – chop roughly

To assemble: cut open a gordita, spread the lower half with avocado, add some black beans, top with salsa, cashew cheese and coriander, push the top of the gordita down then eat and enjoy!

Strawberry Nieve

Prep time: 10 minutes, freezer time: 2 hours +

Nieve is a type of sorbet that you'll find being sold from street vendors in Mexico. You could use any other berries or fruit that you'd prefer.

1 C caster sugar

150ml water

500g strawberries, washed and hulled

1 T lime juice

1 T tequila

In a small saucepan combine ¾ C of the sugar with the water. Stir until sugar dissolves then allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a food processor combine the strawberries and the remaining ¼ C of sugar. Process until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

Pour the strawberry mixture into a sieve over a bowl. Use a spoon to help push the mixture through until you’re left with a small amount of seeds in the sieve, discard the seeds.

Pour the sugar syrup and the lime juice into the strawberry mixture and combine. Pour into your ice cream maker* and set according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Once the machine has finished, pour the sorbet into a container, add the tequila and give it a good stir before putting the container into the freezer.

After 2 hours the sorbet will be firmer but still soft enough to scoop. Serve with a wedge of lime.

* If you don’t have an ice cream maker, add the tequila along with the syrup and lime then pour into a container and put it straight into the freezer. Remove from freezer 5 - 10 minutes before serving so it's easy to scoop and serve.

This sorbet is one of my favourites, the strawberry flavour is so strong and the extra lime helps to break up the sweetness. This will make more then enough for 4 so you'll have plenty left over.

This menu would be great for a summer bbq and you could also make some limeade or sangria to go with the meal as well as a salad and some rice.

Enjoy!

Labels: beans, gluten free, gorditas, lunch, Mexican, recipes, sorbet, soy free, vegan, VeganMoFo2011

16 comments:

Isobelle said...: I've never heard of Gorditas before but they look delicious paired with that bean filling. I have been meaning to try making some Mexican food lately (since I never have, and I've been seeing tons of recipes). I think this may have to be my number one choice though :); October 27, 2011 10:11 AM
Louise said...: Oh yum - those all look great! I have Viva Vegan! but I have only made a few things from it so far - I always get sad when I realise that an amazing recipe calls for plantains or some other common-in-America-but-rare-in-Australia ingredients...

I should probably be inventive and just make substitutions :); October 27, 2011 1:02 PM
Mel said...: What a fantastic post! All of your recipes sound really good, I had never heard of gorditas before either and had to do a quick search as I was intrigued by them. As usual, your food looks scrumptious too! :D; October 27, 2011 1:34 PM
forkandbeans said...: Mexican food is my weakness! AND this is gluten free. Oh my, I am dreamy with food now. I cannot wait to try these Gorditas. I am definitely keeping this post. Thank you! xo, Cara; October 27, 2011 1:40 PM
eatingappalachia.com said...: What an incredible Mexican feast! And I always thought gorditas were a nasty Taco Bell invention :) Good to know they can look fabulous! I'm jonesing for that strawberry goodness too. Mmm!; October 27, 2011 2:06 PM
Andy Dufresne said...: Such a gorgeous meal! So many colors and flavors.; October 27, 2011 2:36 PM
Jenny said...: Such pretty displays of food! I love Mexican, and I really haven't heard of gorditas (although now reading someone else's comment, I realize yeah, Taco Bell, that's where I've heard of them). I'm also wondering what the difference is in pre-cooked cornmeal and if you could use regular cornmeal.; October 27, 2011 2:43 PM
Dawn said...: Another gorgeous spread! The sorbet has definitely gotten my attention. It's SOOO pretty; October 27, 2011 10:09 PM
vegan.in.brighton said...: I wish I had that whole meal in front of me right now!; October 27, 2011 10:23 PM
jessy said...: you are too awesome, Mandee! i love the spread, the recipes....all of it! your jalapeno black beans sound perfect and i'm digging those gorditas, too. then you topped it all with one gorgeous look'n sorbet. mmmmmm! you are the queen of mexi-eats. i love it!; October 27, 2011 11:45 PM
VeggieAmanda said...: I've never had a gordita, but I would sure like the try one! Thanks for the recipe!; October 28, 2011 1:58 AM
Erin said...: This looks like a great meal! I love black beans cooked down into a thick broth, and the nieve looks incredible.; October 28, 2011 6:23 AM
susank said...: That looks like such an amazing spread! Your gorditas came out perfect.; October 28, 2011 9:38 AM
K said...: It all looks amazing, I want it all!!!!; October 28, 2011 9:39 AM
thefrenchfryconundrum said...: I love gorditas and this meal looks fantastic! I now have a craving for Mexican food :o); October 28, 2011 10:53 AM
inhergrace said...: Now that is a feast! I love the look of the Gorditas! I'd love to try one. We'll have to have tea and gorditas! :); October 28, 2011 3:59 PM

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VeganMoFo2011 Day 27: A Mexican Meal

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