Vegan recipes: 5 plant-based traditional Latinx dishes

Ingredients

• 2 cups refried beans
• 1 ½ cup vegan cream cheese
• 1 ½ cup guacamole (1 avo + juice of 1 lemon + red onion + salt & pepper)
• 1 cup vegan sour cream 2 cups (approx.)
• greens of choice, chopped (spring mix)
• 1 ½ cup pico de gallo ( 3 tomatoes + ½ white onion + cilantro + salt & pepper)
• Optional: ⅓ cup black olives

Instructions

Layer the ingredients in order in a shallow, clear & heat-save crystal bowl. Serve with tortilla chips or veggie sticks, and enjoy!

Ingredients

Guajillo Chile Sauce

• 20 (4 oz.) Guajillo chiles, dry, seeded
• 3-4 Arbol chiles, dried, seeded
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 White onion, chopped
• 2 cups Chile soaking liquid

Filling

• 4 Garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans (20 oz.) Green jackfruit in brine
• 1 ½ cups Reserved guajillo chile sauce

Dough

• 1 cup (8 oz.) Refined coconut oil, room temperature
• 4 cups (1 lb. 2 oz.) Masa harina
• 1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
• 1 tbsp. Salt, kosher
• 1 ½ tbsp. Cumin, ground
• 3 ½ cups Vegetable broth or stock
• 1 ½ cups Reserved guajillo chile sauce
• 30 corn husks

Instructions

To prepare the corn husks

1. Soak the corn husks in hot water, in a large pot, or your kitchen sink.
2. Place a plate over them to weigh them down, so they are completely submerged.
3. Let them soak for at least an hour.

To make the sauce

1. Place the chiles in a small saucepot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and let cook for about 10 minutes.
2. Drain the chiles and reserve 2 cups of the soaking liquid.
3. Place the chiles, garlic, onion, and soaking liquid in the blender and process until smooth—season with salt and pepper and strain. You should end up with about 3 cups of sauce.

To make the filling

1. Drain the jackfruit. Rinse, and pat with paper towels. Cut out the core of the jackfruit (tip of the triangle pieces), and cut pieces in half.
2. Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a large sauté pan set to medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the jackfruit and cook for 3 -4 minutes or until it begins to brown.
3. Pour 1 ½ cups of the guajillo chile sauce and reduce heat to low-medium.
4. Simmer for 20 minutes or until jackfruit begins to break down and the sauce has thickened slightly. Use a fork to shred the jackfruit as it cooks down.
5. Season with salt and pepper and let cool.

To make the dough

1. Beat the coconut oil, on medium-high speed, with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add the baking powder, cumin, salt, and beat for 1 minute to incorporate into the coconut oil. Add half of the masa harina to the bowl, pour in half of the vegetable stock, and beat to incorporate.
2. After it is completely incorporated, add the other half of masa harina, vegetable stock, and 1 ½ cups of guajillo chile puree.
3. Beat at low speed until thoroughly mixed. It should have the consistency of a thick cake batter. If necessary, add more vegetable stock until you reach that consistency.
4. Taste the dough, and add more salt if necessary. It should be a little bit salty. For lighter and fluffier tamales, let the dough rest for an hour in the refrigerator.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge and beat it, adding enough liquid to get it to the consistency it had before.
6. Remove the corn husks from the water and set them on paper towels—Reserve the largest husks to wrap the tamales and the small ones to line the steamer.

To set up your steamer

1. Fill the bottom with water making sure the water is not touching the steamer rack. Line the rack and sides of the steamer pot with corn husks. Set aside.

To wrap the tamales

1. Pull 24 pencil-thin strips off of the corn husks and set them aside. Take a husk and dry off the excess water with a paper towel.
2. Place the husk in your hand with the tapered side away from you and the smooth side up. Using a spoon, spread 2-3 tbsp. of the dough (¼ inch thick) onto the corn husk, forming a 3 - 4 inch square. Leave a border of at least 3/4 inch on each side of the square. Place 1 ½ tbsp. of the filling in the center of the dough.
3. Bring the two long sides of the corn husk together; this will cause the masa to surround the filling and roll them in the same direction around the tamal. (If the husk is too small, fold one of the long sides towards the center, and then fold the other long side on top.)
4. Fold-down the empty tapered section of the corn husk, forming a closed bottom. This will leave the top of the tamal open. Tie with a corn husk strip to secure the bottom of the tamal.
5. Place the tamal in the steamer vertically, leaning against the side of the pot, with the open end on top. Repeat this process until you run out of dough, and all the tamales are in the steamer. Cover them with a layer of corn husks. If the steamer is not full, fill the empty spaces with more corn husks.
6. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and cook for 40 minutes. Check the tamales; when they separate easily from the corn husk, it means they are done. If they are not done, steam for ten more minutes and check again.
7. Remove steamer from the heat and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Uncover and let cool for at least an hour. Don’t be alarmed if the tamales seem really soft. As they cool, they will firm up.

Ingredients

• ½ cup jackfruit pitted & shredded
• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup water (+ more if needed)
• 1 nori sheet
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• Optional: 1 tbsp sofrito
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

1. To a small bowl, add your shredded jackfruit, and mix in the salt, pepper, sofrito & garlic. Chop (or rip) the nori sheet in tiny pieces and mix with the jackfruit.
2. Squeeze the lemon juice over the jackfruit mixture. Cover the bowl and let the flavors mend in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare the batter: to a bigger bowl, sift the flour and add the water. Whisk together until you get a thin consistency.
4. Note: this batter needs to be runny, thinner than pancake mix.
5. Also, taste the mixture to see if salt is necessary; bacalaitos tend to be really salty. If you want to aim for that, add more salt.
6. Heat up the oil in a frying pan; test readiness by dropping a tiny drop of batter into the oil. If it bubbles up, the oil is ready.
7. While the oil is heating, add to the batter the jackfruit and mix well. Carefully add spoonfuls of the mixture to the hot oil.
8. Don’t overcrowd the pan; you don’t want them to stick together; this will allow you to flip the bacalaitos comfortably. They should be golden on both sides.
9. When ready, remove the bacalaitos from the oil and drain excess with a paper towel. Enjoy immediately!

Ingredients

Caramel

• ¾ cup Granulated sugar

Flan base

• 1 can Full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup Oat milk
• 1 tsp. Chickpea flour
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/4 tsp Agar-agar powder

Instructions

1. Get ramekins ready to go.
2. Pour sugar into a medium saucepot and set to medium-low heat. Let the sugar dissolve, gently swirling the pot but not stirring, until mixture turns a deep golden color, 8 to 9 minutes.
3. Immediately remove the pot from heat and pour caramel into ramekins. Gently lift and tilt ramekins to coat the inside with caramel. Set aside.
4. Combine coconut milk and agar-agar in a medium saucepot. In the blender, combine the oat milk, sugar, chickpea flour, and vanilla. Process until smooth.
5. Pour this mixture into the pot with coconut milk. Bring mixture to a simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.
6. Let cool slightly, then pour into ramekins. Place ramekins in the fridge for 4 hours to let the flan set.
7. To serve, place the bottom of the ramekin in a container with hot water for 1 -2 minutes to release the flan. Use a small knife or offset spatula to loosen the edges of the flan carefully. Turn flan over onto a plate, shake gently to release flan, and remove ramekin.
8. Prepare the batter: to a bigger bowl, sift the flour and add the water. Whisk together until you get a thin consistency.
9. Note: this batter needs to be runny, thinner than pancake mix. Also, taste the mixture to see if salt is necessary; bacalaitos tend to be really salty. If you want to aim for that, add more salt.
10. Heat up the oil in a frying pan; test readiness by dropping a tiny drop of batter into the oil. If it bubbles up, the oil is ready. While the oil is heating, add to the batter the jackfruit and mix well.
11. Carefully add spoonfuls of the mixture to the hot oil. Don’t overcrowd the pan; you don’t want them to stick together; this will allow you to flip the bacalaitos comfortably. They should be golden on both sides.
12. When ready, remove the bacalaitos from the oil and drain excess with a paper towel. Enjoy immediately!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 cup Chile chilhuacle negro dried
• 1 cup Chile chilhuacle rojo
• 1 cup Chile Mulato
• 1 cup Chile Pasilla
• ¼ cup Sesame seeds
• ¼ cup Peanuts raw
• ¼ cup Pecans raw
• ½ cup Hazelnuts raw
• ¼ cup Pepitas pumpkin seeds, raw
• 2 Corn tortillas
• 3 Slices whole wheat bread
• 2 large red onions
• 4 Garlic cloves peeled
• 2 Ripe plantains peeled
• ¼ cup Goji berries
• 8 Plum tomatoes cut into dice
• 10 Tomatillos husks removed, cut into dice
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. Ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Dried oregano
• 1 tsp.Dried thyme
• 1 tsp. Ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. Ground turmeric
• 5 Whole cloves
• 5 Whole allspice
• ¼ cup Coconut sugar
• 1 cup Dark chocolate dairy-free
• 4 Avocado leaves toasted
• 5 cups vegetable broth

To Serve

10 corn tortillas

1 large head of cauliflower

¼ cup Coconut oil extra virgin

Sea salt

1 tsp. Smoked Paprika

1 tsp. ground cumin

Pickled Red Onions

• 1 large red onion
• 2 limes juiced
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. Oregano

Crema

• 1 cup Sunflower seeds hulled, raw
• 1 ½ cups Water
• 1 tsp. Sea salt 1 Lime juiced
• 1 tsp. Nutritional yeast

Instructions

To make the crema

1. Fill a large glass container with water and add the sunflower seeds. Let them soak overnight in the refrigerator. (Preferably one day before you make the mole.)

Drain the seeds

1. Place the sunflower seeds, water, salt, lime juice, and nutritional yeast in the blender and process until smooth.
2. You can adjust the lime and salt to taste or add other spices like jalapeño, ginger, turmeric, or nutmeg.

To Make the Mole

1. Set a large sauté pan to medium-high heat, add all the chiles (stems and seeds removed), and toast lightly on both sides.
2. Transfer to a bowl with cold water and set aside for later. In a large pot or wok, add 1 cup of coconut oil and heat to medium heat.
3. Add sesame seeds, peanuts, nuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, bread, tortilla, onion, garlic, plantain slices, and goji berries.
4. Add them one at a time until they are a deep golden brown, then remove them from the pan, set them aside, and add the next ingredient.
5. Add the diced tomatoes and tomatillos to the pot, season them with salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, ground ginger, cumin, clove, turmeric, and allspice, cook until golden brown.
6. Remove from pan and set aside.
7. Place all the fried ingredients plus the drained, dried chiles in the blender, and process until smooth.
8. Strain this mixture. Heat a large pot to medium heat, add the remaining 1 cup of coconut oil, fry the sauce for 5 minutes, and add 5 cups of vegetable broth.
9. Add the coconut sugar, chocolate, and avocado leaves (previously toasted).
10. Simmer for 45 min at medium heat, constantly stirring to avoid sticking.
11. While de mole is simmering, cut the cauliflower in small florets and sauté it with a little bit of coconut oil.
12. Season with cumin, paprika, and salt to taste. Cover and let it pan steam for about 10 minutes or until tender.
13. Add a little bit of water to the pan if necessary. Prepare the crema (instructions above) and marinate the red onion with lime juice, water, and oregano.
14. Fill the tortillas (heat them for a couple of seconds in the microwave, so they are easy to fold), and fold them in half.
15. Pour the finished mole sauce on top of the folded tortillas, drizzle some crema, and top with pickled red onions.