Tempeh Ceviche (VeganMoFo)

Another one of my favorite local restaurants is the Mexican eatery, El Zarape.  This is authentic Mexican food at its finest and although they have a wide array of meat-centric entrees, an entire section of their extensive menu is vegetarian.  ¡Ole!  I’ll definitely have to do an “On the Town” post about this joint (including their amazing margaritas!) in the future, but for now I am going to talk about one dish that was so tasty and unique I just had to recreate it at home, El Zarape’s, “Ceviche de Soya”, read: Tempeh Ceviche. 

From what I could tell by examining, and of course eating, El Zarape’s “Ceviche de Soya”, crumbled tempeh is marinated in a lime juice, cilantro and tomato mixture.  They then serve it with pinto beans on top of tostada shells.  Truly divine.  I must admit, I am no tempeh lover.  I have tried several recipes with the stuff but the flavor and texture always throw me.  I probably would not have ordered this dish at the restaurant had they not called it “Ceviche de Soya”.  I was prepared to get some sort of marinated tofu tostada.  Thank you, El Zarape for your creative verbiage and for opening my eyes to a tempeh dish I just can’t get enough of.  Here is my rendition…

Ingredients:

8 oz package tempeh

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup red onion, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

Fresh hot chilis or pickled jalapenos to taste

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (or more to taste)

1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 ½ cups pinto beans

Equipment:

Stove top steamer of some sort

Shallow mixing dish

Procedure:

1.  Cut tempeh in 8 equal pieces and steam 20-30 minutes (you can probably steam for less time if you aren’t so adverse to tempeh’s flavor like I am)

2.  Meanwhile, mix all the remaining ingredients together except the pinto beans 

3.  Once tempeh is done steaming, mash thoroughly with a fork and add to your marinade mixture

4.  Allow the tempeh to soak up the flavors for at least 30 minutes

 

5.  When you’re about  ready to serve, warm the pinto beans in a small pot or in the microwave

6.  Serve your ceviche on a large crispy lettuce leaf (iceberg, butter lettuce or cabbage would all work) or a tostada shell with warm pinto beans.  Add salsa and guacamole if you are so inclined (I was!).  

 

Cooking through my CSA: Peppers (VeganMoFo)

Who doesn’t love peppers?  They’re versatile, flavorful and gosh darn beautiful.  I mean LOOK at these babies.

The purple bell pepper in the upper right is my fave, but don't tell the others

Bell peppers may not be as exotic as some of the other CSA items I have been challenged by, but because I get peppers in just about every one of my biweekly CSA boxes it can be difficult figuring out ways to highlight them in my cooking.  The little green ones are Padron peppers.  I have gotten these a few times in the CSA and they have varying heat levels depending on how mature they are.  Each time I get them (this is the third time now) they get spicier.  The peppers pictured above were about the heat level of a jalapeno.  With these (and the ½ onion I had left after making my Tomatillo Enchiladas) I decided to make some ridiculously easy fajitas. 

I cheated here and used a store-bought fajita seasoning packet.  These packets are dirt cheap, especially when bought on sale.  When I cook using a packet like this, it reminds me of when my dad made chicken fajitas for our family at home (he uses the seasoning packets as well).  I love throw-back meals like this.  In the future I’d like to make my own fajita seasoning blend to mimic these flavors.  For a batch this size, I only use about 1/3 of one seasoning packet. 

These come together in a flash, so have your tortillas and fixins ready.  This is a viable option for a weeknight meal when you come home starving, plus it only uses one pan to boot!

Ingredients:

3 medium bell peppers (whatever colors you have on hand), sliced

2-3 Padron peppers, or moderately spicy peppers, chopped, optional

1 small or ½ a large onion, sliced

1 cup chicken style seitan (I used Gardein strips)

1 Tbsp fajita seasoning

1-2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil

Splash or two of water

Flour or corn tortillas

Fajita fixins (sour cream, salsa, cheeze, tomatoes, lime juice and/or cilantro would all be divine)

I used homemade sour cream (recipe from THIS amazing cookbook), limes, sliced cabbage (CSA) and chopped tomatoes (CSA).

Equipment:

Large, heavy-bottom skillet

Procedure:

1.  Sauté sliced peppers and onions in oil on high heat until they start to brown and soften

2.  Add a splash of water to deglaze the pan and add your fajita seasoning, cook a few minutes

3.  Add your chik’n and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so.  If you like your fajitas a little saucy, add more water as needed.

4.  Layer the pepper, chik’n mixture onto a warm tortilla and top with your favorite fixins 

5.  Devour

 

Happy eating!

Cooking through my CSA: Tomatillos

My latest CSA loot.

The best thing about participating in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is also one of the most challenging and that is figuring out how to make a great dish using produce you aren’t very familiar with, and some cases have never even heard of! 

Now, living in southern California I had heard of and seen tomatillos prior to opening my latest CSA box.  The weekly farmer’s market that my work runs has a fantastic Mexican food vendor who sells the most amazing spicy tomatillo salsa.  However, until receiving these firm green tomato look-alikes in my box, I dismissed the idea of buying and cooking with them myself.  The husks threw me off and made me think that the little boogers would be too tedious.  Wrong!  Removing a tomatillo husk is by far and away easier and less messy than removing fresh corn husks. 

Because the farm with which I participate puts out a weekly newsletter letting its subscribers know in advance what they can plan to see in their weekly or biweekly box, I knew the tomatillos were a comin’.  So, I consulted my pal, Google, for tomatillo cooking ideas. 

Being a lover of Enchiladas Verdes (said in my most overly annunciated and dramatic pseudo Hispanic accent) I decided to roast the tomatillos and blend them up into a green sauce for enchiladas.  You can adjust the heat level by playing with the peppers you use in this.  I wanted something more mild since this was to be used for the enchiladas.  If I were making this as a salsa I would have used jalapenos, habaneros or some Caribbean Red peppers.  I enjoy my salsa muy caliente!

Blended Tomatillo Salsa/Sauce

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed

1 onion, skinned and quartered

2 medium to mild peppers (I used pardon peppers but Anaheim would be great too)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro intact

Juice of one lime

2 Tbsp olive or canola oil

Salt to taste

Water to blend, if necessary

Equipment:

Oven, set to broil

Roasting pan or baking sheet

Food processor or blender

Procedure:

1. Place the husked tomatillos, onion quarters and garlic cloves on an oiled baking sheet and broil in the oven for 10 minutes.  Flip and broil another 10-15 minutes until tomatillos are charred, soft and starting to ooze. 
2. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.
3. Remove the seeds from the broiled tomatillos and discard.  Place charred, seeded tomatillos in your food processor or blender with the garlic and onion.  Blend.
4. Add cilantro, lime juice and as much water as you need to get the consistency you want.  If you plan to use this as a salsa, go easy on the blending.  If using as a sauce to top enchiladas like I did, blend away adding a few tablespoons of water to get that saucy consistency.  Set aside.

Now onto the enchiladas…

These are highly customizable based on your tastes and what you have on hand.  I used a combo of potatoes, beans, sautéed peppers and onions, tomatoes and cheddar daiya.  I think it would be great fun to use a homemade block cheese (many recipes in The Ultimate UnCheese Cookbook!) or a cashew/nutritional yeast based cheesy sauce for the filling and/or topping. 

Enchiladas Verrrrdes

Ingredients:

About ten 8-inch tortillas (I used flour which are not so authentic for enchiladas but very easy to handle)

1 can beans (I used pinto but black, refried or red beans would also be tasty)

1 large russet potato, cubed and boiled

1-2 bell peppers, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

2-3 average size fresh tomatoes (if tomatoes are out of season, skip them.  They aren’t essential)

Vegan cheese of some sort, divided in half

Equipment:

Oven set to 325°

Large glass baking dish (go go gadget Pyrex!)

Medium to large mixing bowl

Procedure:

1. Boil your cubed potatoes until just fork tender.  Set aside in a medium to large mixing bowl
2. Sauté the bell peppers and onion in 1 Tbsp canola oil until softened, season with salt and pepper and mix with potatoes, chopped tomatoes (if using) and ½ of the vegan cheese.  Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 325°.
3. Mix the filling (potatoes, sauteed peppers and onions, tomatoes, and 1/2 the cheese) together to combine.
4. Assemble the enchiladas.  Spray a large glass baking dish with cooking spray or coat with oil.  Pour 1/3 of the tomatillo sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.  Place filling into each tortilla (don’t overstuff!) and roll setting each tortilla seam side down in the dish.  Repeat until your dish is full of rolled enchiladas.  You should have about 10.
5. Pour the remainder of the tomatillo sauce on top of the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese. 
6. Cover with foil and bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes.  Remove foil and let bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how saucy your enchiladas are.  The enchiladas are done when the cheese is melted (or bubbly if using a cheese sauce) and the sauce has baked into the tortillas.  
7. Devour.