Mexican #WFPB Cooking Class

This Saturday, January 18th, 2020 was our second ever Mexican cooking class, and we had Leobarda, the cook for the rectory at St. Helena's as our guest of honor.
Note that Mexican cuisine is an ideal starting point for your whole foods, plant-based lifestyle.

Here is what we made:

Cactus Salad

Ingredients

Cactus
Red Onions
Tomato
Optional: avocado
Cilantro
(Mexican) Oregano
Radish or daikon
Serrano peppers and/or fresh jalapeño, or Jalapeño in vinegar
3/2/1 dressing with lemon and lime
Pepper to taste
Variations: with cubes of firm tofu, or with cevici-style marinated mushrooms

Preparation

Cut the nopales paddles in 1/2" strips and cut those to 1" lengths.

Boil the nopales paddles in ample water for 15-20 mins with a small onion and some garlic in the water.

Place the nopales in a large bowl; add the chopped tomato, onion, serrano peppers, radish and cilantro.

Mix the ingredients.

In a separate bowl mix the dressing with oregano, salt, and pepper.
Add this to the nopales mixture and stir.

Top the salad with crumbled fresh firm tofu and possibly some nutritional yeast and avocado slices.
(Radishes go well with this salad also).

Eat with corn tortillas or tostadas, or rice cakes.

 

Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients

1 lb bag of black beans, or 1 25Oz can, rinsed and drained
Optional: one 15 Oz can of Corn
A bunch of fresh Cilantro
2-3 celery stalks, sliced thin
Juice of 2-3 limes (depending on how juicy the lime)
16 Oz jar of medium green salsa
whatever peppers you choose - cut up fine - jalapenos, chilis, serrano, poblano - it all depends on your taste for more hot or aromatic
optionally add in some pickled jalapenos.

Preparation

Soak and Cook the beans with a kombu strip (Abt. 45 mins.), or simply drain the can and rinse the beans.
Wash and chop up the cilantro
Add lime juice, mix in the black beans and the salsa.
Mix well.

Serve on rice cakes or tortillas.

 

Mexican Chili Bean Stuffed Peppers

Mexcian Stuffed Peppers from Nutrition Studies

NB. Here is the original recipe on Nutritionstudies in English and in Spanish.

Ingredients

1¼ cups red kidney beans, raw (or 4 cups cooked)

6 medium bell peppers, any color

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 medium jalapeno chili, stemmed, seeded and minced

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

3 tsp garlic, minced

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Preparation

 1) Preheat oven to 425. Cut tops off peppers, keeping stems in tact. Scoop out the ribs and seeds. Place peppers and tops cut-side-down on a sheet pan and roast in a 425 F degree oven until slightly brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce heat to 350 F.

2 Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add peppers and onions. Cook until well-browned, about 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes. If peppers start to burn, add water and reduce the heat slightly.

3 Once peppers and onions are soft, add spices, garlic, and tomato paste. Cook another minute or two, just to toast the spices and darken the tomato paste.

4 Add 2-4 tbsp. water to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits. Reduce heat to low, and cook until aromatic, about 5 more minutes (but you can keep this low saute for up to 20 minutes).

5 Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro, salt, and pepper.

6 Stuff each pepper with about 1 cup of the stuffing mixture. Place the peppers into a 350 F oven and heat until warm, about 10 minutes.

At the end of all that, we were able to contribute $4 to St.Helena's from the grocery money, and Fr. David had 1 stuffed pepper and some of the two salads with tortilla. There was 1 stuffed pepper for the seminarians, plus enough of the black bean salsa and cactus salad for 2-3 people. And I used the rest of the stuffing the next day for 4 more stuffed peppers. Net, net we spent about $14 per person, and that included stocking up on some staples.