Mexican #WFPB Fusion Cauliflower Burrito

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower split in florets

1 large or 2 smaller onions cut up fine
3-6 garlic cut up fine
1 cup water with Yondu, or Braggs Liquid aminos
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tbsp curry powder
1 serrano pepper cut up fine
2 jalapeño peppers cut up fine
1 bell pepper cut up in small chunks

======besan sauce

1/4 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tbsp black salt (kala namak)

======faux parmesan

1 cup cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tbp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black salt

========

rice
optional spinach leaves
whole wheat, low fat burrito wrappers.

Note: I am using Olé Extreme Wellness Whole Wheat Tortilla Wraps with Flax, with just 2 or 3% fat.

Preparation

Steam the culiflower florets for 7 mins - al dente

Roast the onions dry for 5 mins
Stir-fry the onions for aonther while adding water, and adding in the cut-up peppers and garlic
mix-in the turmeric and the curry powder.

Mix the besan, nutritional yeast and black salt, and let it simmer on low flame for a while
gradually add 2 -3 more cups of water to get a sauce if desired consistency.

meanwhile run the ingredients for the faux parmesan through the blender, until it's a find powder.
add the parmesan to taste.

lay out a burrito wrapper, cut up a few spinach leaves, to lay down a center stripe
lay a bed of rice on top of the spinach, cut up some cauliflower and lay it in the rice.
poor some of the curry sauce over it to taste.
If desired you could add a few pickled jalapeños.

Roll-up and serve.

Peppers Galore, it's Mexico time!

 One thing is to know your peppers, and another thing is to know your eaters. Different people appreciate heat from peppers differently, and you want to be appropriate. I give the heat in SHU, Scoville Heat Units, and of course you have some control for you can always make any pepper milder by seeding them.

My repertoire of Peppers is based on what is prominently available in my neighborhood. And I will bring in some information from a site called Pepperscale.

1. Bell Peppers - Capsicum Annuum. I just include them for good order. They do not pack any heat necessarily, but they come loaded with vitamins and flavor. Get all the colors, they all represent a different nutrient profile and variation is the name of the game.
2. Jamaican Peppers - Capsicum Annuum (also). 
3. Poblano Peppers - slightly hot and aromatic, ca. 1,250 SHU.
4. Chilaca Peppers - 1000 - 2,500 SHU - slightly hotter than Poblano. VEry flavorful.
5. Jalapeño Peppers - 2,500 - 8,000 SHU median 5,250 SHU. Clearly hot, but aromatic. One of my favorites.
6. Serrano Peppers - Median 16,500 SHU, ranging from 10,000 - 23,000 SHU. Like Jalapeño, but clearly hotter (3x). 

I will keep on editing this list.

Today, I am making Black Bean Salsa, but with a poblano, a chilaca, a jalapeño and a serrano pepper, as well as thee stalks of celery,  so I am clearly trying to create some depth of flavor but with some zing to it. I make sure to slice the serrano and the jalapeño extremely thin.

The recipe then becomes something like this:

Black Bean Salsa

• 1 lb of black beans, soaked and cooked, or 2 15 Oz cans (or 1 25 Oz can) of black beans.
• 1 can of corn
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, cut up fine.
• 3 stalks of celery, sliced thin
• 1 16 Oz jar of Green Salsa
• Juice of 3 limes
• The simple version is with 3 jalapeños, or 2 jalapeños and a serrano pepper, sliced thin,
  but today, I made it with four peppers:
• 1 serrano pepper, sliced thin
• 1 jalapeño pepper, sliced thin
• 1 poblano pepper, sliced thin
• 1 chilaca pepper, sliced thin.
• 2-3 tbsp of nutritional yeast
• 1/2 lb of firm tofu, cut in small cubes

It is always best the next day, after it marinates in the fridge.

the tofu give the suggestion of cheese, and the nutritional yeast enhances the cheesy flavor.

En Español:

Salsa de Frijoles Negros

1 libra de frijoles negros, remojados y cocidos, o 2 latas de 15 Oz (o 1 lata de 25 Oz) de frijoles negros.

1 lata de maíz

1 manojo de cilantro fresco, cortado fino.

3 tallos de apio, en rodajas finas

1 bote de 16 Oz de Salsa Verde

Jugo de 3 limas

La versión sencilla es con 3 jalapeños, o 2 jalapeños y un chile serrano, en rodajas finas,

pero hoy lo hice con cuatro pimientos:

1 chile serrano, en rodajas finas

1 chile jalapeño, en rodajas finas

1 chile poblano, en rodajas finas

1 chile chilaca, en rodajas finas.

2-3 cucharadas de levadura nutricional

1/2 libra de tofu firme, cortado en cubos pequeños

Siempre es mejor al día siguiente, después de marinar en la nevera.

el tofu da la sugerencia de queso, y la levadura nutricional realza el sabor a queso.

Salsa de Frijoles Negros

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, I am serving it on oil-free tostadas, this brand: Tostadas Buena Vista, has three varieties, Corn, Sesame, and Multigrain. They are all delicious.

I get them at Frutas Y Vegetales La Reyna at 1300-1302 Beach Avenue (corner Westchester Avenue), Bronx, NY 10472. (Across the street from South of France).

Recently, I also made cactus salad and served them on these same tostadas. Winner!

 

MEX #WFPB 002 - Ensalada de Nopales - Cactus Salad

 I wrote about cactus salad the first time in January. When I was just hoping to start doing some cooking classes on Mexican cuisine #WFPB style. Covid came along. You know the rest.

But I've gotten back to trying to develop some recipes. And the next evolutionary step follows below:

Ingredients:

3 good size Cactus leaves, cleaned.
1 Red Onions
15 Oz can of diced Tomato
Optional: avocado
1/2 bunch Cilantro
2 tbsp (Mexican) Oregano
some Radish or daikon, possibly pickled...
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 cactus leaves in 1" strips and cut in 1/2" chunks.
• Cook in boiling water with some onion and garlic.
• Let cool
• meanwhile:
• Cut up the red onion
• Combine with the diced tomatoes
• add the cilantro, Mexican Oregano
• add in the radishes, cut fine, and/or the avocado, cut in slivers.
• cut up the peppers (jalapeño, serrano, as the case may be)
• add the salad dressing
• mix and add in the nopales when cool.
• Let it marinate in the fridge.

Serving suggestion: with tortillas, or just by itself.

Obviously, you can make this as mild or as spicy as you want.

Mex #WFPB 001 - Three Sisters Posole Remix

 Just before the Corona virus madness, the plan was to do  a series of Mexican classes in my cooking classes at St. Helena's. Hopefully, we will resume in the spring, but until then, I am going to discuss some Mexican recipes.

 

I will use as my guide the Mexican Recipe section on Nutrition Studies, en Español. 

 

Yesterday, I made a Three Sisters Posole, but a kind of derivative of the recipe on Nutrition studies. I can never stop improvising, improving (and sometimes making it worse, but learning all the time).

The recipe for Three Sisters Posole

Here are the original recipes on Nutritionstudies in English and Spanish.

So here goes with the revised instructions, but I will include the links to the original. One problem I ran into, my local Mexican grocery did not have blue corn posole, so instead I used Hominy, which is Nixtamalized Corn. Chang Li Market has hominy from the Mama Tere brand. You can get Blue Corn Posole on Amazon. I'll try that next time.

 

Ingredients 

• 2 cups dried blue corn posole, or hominy 
• 1 cup tepary beans, or any kind of small beans 
• Optional: you can add some summer Savory to the beans while cooking them
  
• 1 cup barley (optional) 
• 2 medium zucchini
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp Mexican Oregano
• 1 Tbsp ground red chile
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp arrowroot
• 1 bunch of scallions
  
• 1 lime
•  Sea Salt to taste

Preparation

• Cook posole for 2 hours until tender - or shorter if using a pressure cooker. (Hominy in Instant Pot for 15-20 mins on High pressure)
• Cook the beans separately 1.5-2 hours until tender (Instant Pot for 7 mmins or so).
• In a large pot, add the minced garlic, chopped onion, zucchini, oregano,, ground chile, and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil.
• Add the cooked posole and beans as well as the barley, if you are using it.
• Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to come together.
• Turn off the heat. Dissolve the 2 tbsp of arrowroot into the soup last and mix in well to thicken the soup.
• Add Seasalt to taste
• Serve with warm tortillas, wild onions, or scallions. and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

For the most part, you can play a lot with the level of spiciness, and also bear in mind that adding the arrowroot makes it thicker, but also milder.

 

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.