Mexican Cuisine

Mexican feast for a crowd of vegan chefs on a special night

~ chefmena ~ 2 Comments

The night after a very talented group of chefs and I completed our Vegan Gastronomy training in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) we decided to get together for a tasty Vegan Mexican Night, Tequila and a good laugh.

Mexican food is everyone’s favorite no matter your country of origin and can work very well in a plant-based diet. For example, corn tortillas contain no oil and are free of Gluten, help with digestion, heart issues and blood pressure problems. The use of complex flavors in sauces and specific ingredients makes Mexican food so unique and different from other world cuisines.

I recommend using fresh ingredients to get full benefits from the nutrients and avoid GMO’s and preservatives and also adjust the chili to your personal preference.

I decided to create this post to share with You the recipes we cooked that night.

Please enjoy the recipes below, try them, experiment and share with us your results and suggestions to make them better. Please write in the comment box at the lower section of this post, we all would love to learn from your experience. And If you have any questions or doubts please ask away : )

 

Mexican Feast
Mexican Feast

Mexican Menu – Vegan:

  1.  Jen’s tofu chile relleno
  2.  Jen’s Avocado cucumber sauce
  3.  Healthy Sour Cream  – Vegan
  4.  Easy Mole Sauce – Vegan  Note: For a vegan version we replaced the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Also, any semisweet baking chocolate is a good substitute for the chocolate.
  5.  Mexican Empanadas: Dough, Empanada filling seasoned with Mexican Spice Blend.  You can fill your empanadas with  anything you like. For our filling we sauteed mushrooms, corn and leeks seasoned with Mexican Spice Mix (Equal parts of Dry Oregano, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder, Paprika and Cumin. You can leave out any of the ingredients but Cumin and chili powder are essential. Mexican is not Mexican without them).
  6. Mexican Tortilla and toppings. The process looks harder than it is. I use any pan  to press on the tortillas with my body weight and make them real thin and the toppings can be  any traditional salsas and guacamole. Don’t forget the cilantro a key limes! Once you taste freshly made corn tortillas you would never want to buy store made.
  7. Creamy Lime and Avocado Tart

 

Enjoy, Mena

Jen’s Avocado Cucumber Sauce –Vegan

~ chefmena ~ 1 Comment

Avocado and Cucumber Salsa.png

Ingredients:

1 cucumber (Peel skin leave seeds)

1 avocado

1 garlic

Lime juice

water to thin it

salt

cilantro (Opt)

jalapeño (Opt)

Directions:

Blend ingredients until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate before serving. Make this sauce before everything else and place in refrigerator so it can be served cold. Keeps good for about 2 days. It’s a great companion for any Mexican dish.

Jen’s Tofu Chiles Rellenos –Vegan

~ chefmena ~ 1 Comment

Jen’s Tofu Chiles Rellenos –Vegan

Roasted Chiles

Chile Relleno

Servings: 15

Allergens: For a Gluten Free version replace Flour tortillas for Rice Tortillas.

Ingredients:

15 Anaheim Chiles – 1 good per filling

15 Flour Tortillas or Rice Tortillas

2 lbs for 15 – Medium Tofu- (Trader Joe’s with Pink label)

Olive Oil

1 cup Nutritional Yeast

2 T Soy sauce (Taste for flavor and depth. Don’t want it to taste like soy sauce)

Pinch Granulated Garlic

Salt to taste

Frying Oil

Directions

1. Clean Chiles. Slice open and clean out some of the inside seeds and veins depending on how spicy they are you can completely clean them out.

2. Roast the Chiles at 240C until they are blackish without burning them. Keep an eye on them.

3. Place them in a paper bag to sweat them so the skin comes off easy.

4. Peel the skins off

5. Warm each tortilla and make it pliable

6. Place tofu on a big bowl and hand mash it with a potato masher. Season the tofu with soy sauce, Nutritional Yeast, granulated garlic, olive oil and S+ P. It has to look like a ricotta cheese not too creamy. Set aside

7. Lay Chile pepper on the tortilla and top with tofu and roll it up tight like burrito and fry it like a Chimichanga until crispy.

8. Serve crispy and hot with Jen’s cucumber sauce and pico de gallo. Also good cold the next day.

Note: This recipe was created or adjusted by a friend of mine and she allowed me to use it and share it. Try it! Its delish!

I would like to come up with a proven GF version of it and avoid the frying to make it more healthy…but I don’t know how to get the crunchy result without frying it in step 7.