Mexican-Style Corn

One my favorite snacks from traveling in Mexico (or from just living in Houston) is the dressed up corn in a bowl or on the cob.  The vendor will smear on mayo, cheese, chili powder, salt and lime and folks gobble it up.  As a vegan, I had to opt for no mayo and no cheese.  So I took things into my own hands and made it at home.

Shuck the corn and peel off all the cornsilk.  Break the cobs into halves.  Put them into rolling boiling water for just a few minutes.  Corn doesn't need a bunch of time.  5 minutes should be plenty.

Now we're ready for the toppings.  Spread some Veganaise or your favorite vegan over the corn.  Sprinkle on some nutritional yeast (or vegan parm if you got it), chili power and salt.  Squeeze a little lime juice and grab a napkin.  This is going to get messy.

Vegan Queso

If you're not from Texas and know some Spanish, you may wonder what people are talking about when they ask for a bowl of queso.  You want a bowl of cheese?  In a way, yes.
Queso is a Tex-mex cheese dip which I have de-dairyed and kept delicious.


What you need:
3/4 cup almond milk (unsweet is best for this)
1 generous cup of nutritional yeast
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp of margarine
squirt of yellow mustard
squirt of soy sauce
Can of tomatoes and chilies (e.g. Rotel)

What you do:
Melt the margarine.
Whisk flour and milk in a bowl, add to pot with nut. yeast and stir well.
Reduce heat.  Throw in everything else.  Heat for just about 5 minutes while stirring.
More milk will make for a thinner version.  More of the nut. yeast will make it cheesier and thicker.  More of the margarine will make it fattier and creamier.

Grab some chips and dig in.

Pozole-Bastardized

Traditional Mexican pozole is usually all porked up, but after passing by a can of hominy in the story, I decided to try to improv a non-traditional version.
I sauteed about a half an onion and two cloves of garlic in some olive oil.  Tossed in a large can of hominy.  After letting that soak up all the flavor for a bit, I added a cup of veggie broth, a cup of tomato sauce, a can of black beans, a hearty splash of Valentina sauce and a dash or two of cumin.  I let it simmer on low for a good fifteen minutes and topped it with avocado slices and tortilla chips.
Mexican grandmas not withstanding, people are going to like this easy soup.

Baked Mexico

1/2 onion, chopped
2 zucchinis, chopped
12 oz. (one pack) soy crumbles
small can of tomato paste (6 oz. I think)
two handfuls of chopped scallions
dashes of salt, pepper, Valentina hot sauce, oregano, cumin
one recipe of "cheese" sauce (one recipe here but many variations are floating around the web)
Around six tortillas

Saute onions, zucchini. Stir in soy crumbles and tomato sauce. Throw in spices. Layer tortillas in baking pan. Spread all the good stuff on the tortillas. Top with cheese sauce and scallions.
Bake for thirty minutes at 350.

Tacos Aren't Just Full of Beans Anymore

Tacos are easy and pretty dang awesome. But sometimes they same old stuff can get boring. Beans and rice, beans and potatoes. Zzzz. Zzzz. What else pray tell can you put in your tacos and still be rocking it vegan style? Ideas follow.

In the picture we have roasted poblano peppers, corn, avocado, and in the beans themselves chayote squash, onions and tomatoes.

Other ideas: nopales, mushrooms, spanish/mexican rice (like in the pic), tofu, guacamole, bell peppers.