Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Recipe Round-up: Cinco De Mayo

In Phoenix, Cinco de Mayo is one big par-tay with margaritas, cervezas, Mexican polka music, and tons of good Mexican food. All the Mexican restaurants, of which there are MANY are always crowded on Cinco de Mayo, especially the ones hosting big fiestas. I actually try to celebrate Cuatro or Seis de Mayo instead, at least for dining out.

On to the recipe round-up!

RECIPES
I've previously showcased several favorites that would be perfect for a Cinco de Mayo dinner; Hot Truck Tacos, Sarah's Seven Layer Bean Dip, and Sopapillas! So if you haven't checked those out already, you might want to.

I've also made these Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (right) from Isa and Terry before, and while they are tasty, this is a cookie that I can hold back on. But if you like chocolate, chile, and snickerdoodles, this cookie is definitely for you.

FatFree Vegan's Mexican Lasagna. Susan also has a whole bunch of options listed under her Southwestern/South American regional category.

A Lazy Vegan shares her vegan tamales.

Book of Yum has some easily veganized gluten-free Vegetarian Zucchini Green Chili Enchiladas.

Cooking.com's Sangria Cha Cha Cha! I always prefered Sangrias to Margaritas myself.

FULL MENU IDEAS
Gluten-Free Goddess' New Mexico take on CdM: Roasted Yellow Tomato Salsa, Skillet Cornbread with Green Chiles, Roasted Vegetable Salsa, Sweet Potato Shoestring Fries with Santa Fe seasonings, Joey's Kicked Up Rockin' Guac, Brown Rice Tortilla Chips, Jalapeno Lime Hummus, Mexican Pumpkin Soup, Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas, Roasted Green Chile Sauce, Calabasitas, Spanish Rice Bake, Vena Mexican Chocolate Cake, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Orange Creme Cupcakes, and Banana Lime Ice Scream. WOW! She is really prepared for CdM!

Vegetarian Times has a few handy recipes on their wesbite:
Oven-Crisp Black Bean and Corn Flautas, Vegetables and Rice with Pumpkin Seed Sauce, Roasted Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce (needs vegan cheese, try Daiya), Mexican-Style Hummus, Chocolate-Chile Mole Meringues (needs egg replacer), and Posada Punch.

The Innocent Primate Blog has a menu of Pico de Gallo Salsa, Tomatillo Salsa, Hearty Black Bean and Corn Salsa, Mexican Quinoa, Spicy Potato Wedges, and Margaritas.

About.com featured a 30-Second Chili 'Cheese' Dip, Basic Vegan Guacamole, Easy Mushroom Fajitas, Sweet Mexican Tortilla Chips, Mexican Chocolate Cake, Plaintain Chips, and Agua Fresca. Just remember to sub the dairy ingredients in a couple of the vegetarian recipes with Earth Balance Vegan Margarine and Toffuti Better Than Sour Cream.

Some more vegan recipes for Cinco de Mayo from About.com; Cheddar & Black Bean Dip, Chile con Queso Dip, Gazpacho, Guacamole, Seven Layer Dip, Spiced Edamame Dip, Tres Leches Cake, Vegan Three-Bean Chili.

The Atlanta Examiner has a few CdM recipes: Zesty Vegan Guacamole Dip, Margaritas, Vegan Tacos, and even vegan Flan!

VegCooking.com also offers some great recipes: ‘Chicken’ and Lime Soup, Black-Bean Soup, Tortilla Soup, “South of the Border” Salsa Cups, Enchilada Bake, Flan, Tres Leche Cake (Three Milks Cake), and Mexican Chocolate Cake.


COOKBOOK
And we definitely cannot forget about Terry Hope Romero's new Viva Vegan cookbook. I haven't made anything from the cookbook yet, but it goes without saying that there will be some awesome latin food recipes. While it's not all Mexican food, I'd like to try Terry's Churros, Sangria, Horchata, Sweet and Spicy Seitan-Potato Empanadas, Arroz con Seitan, Peruvian Potatoes with Spicy "Cheezy" Sauce, Seitan Saltado (Peruvian Seitan and Potato Stir-fry), Cilantro Lime Rice, and the Cubano Vegano Sandwich. (BTW, I love Peruvian food. They use a lot of cilantro which is perfecto for me.)




STOREBOUGHT
I know this is the Recipe Round-Up, but if you are looking for something storebought, I have the perfect suggestions. Starlite Rolled Tacos and Taquitos are the best  snack or meal ever. I like the chicken style best. Just find some guacamole or salsa for dipping and you are set. [Whole Foods, Sprouts]

Kettle makes these awesome Chili Lime Tortilla Chips. I love them plain, but they'd go well with a bean dip.Not all Chili Lime Tortilla Chips are the same, either. Several other brands are not even vegan, and at least one of the other vegan brands just doesn't taste good. [Whole Foods]

Amy's Non-Dairy Bean & Rice Burrito is pretty tasty too. I usually have a couple of these in my freezer in case of burrito emergencies. They happen more often than you would think. [Sprouts, Fry's Marketplace, Whole Foods]


RESTAURANTS
AzVegan.com has a good list of veg-friendly Mexican and Southwestern restaurants. I'll just add that Serrano's, Garcia's, and Macayo's have informed me that they do not use lard in their beans, and Garcias doesn't use lard at all. Taco del Mar offers vegan burritos on their menu. Both Del Taco and Taco Bell have veganizable veggie and bean burros, and Taco Bell's Fresco Bean Burrito is vegan as ordered. Taco Bell will substitute just about anything for you.



VIDEO
And lastly, Isa and Terry with the Post Punk Kitchen and their Mexcellente! show featuring Tamales with Seitan and Chipotle Peppers, Guacamole, Salsa Verde, Papaya Salsa, and Horchata. If you've never made tamales before, they have a good demonstration of how to wrap them.




¡Salud!

5 comments:

Rikki Cupcake said...

wow so much info in one blog! where to begin? i had no idea there were vegan frozen rolled tacos. i prefer homemade stuff to store bought, but if ever in a pinch fro time i will check them out. i just made chocolate jalapeno cookies last night with cinco de mayo in mind.

Xhanthi said...

Those Amy's burritos are pretty good. I had a food emergency and grabbed one after class one night. I don't eat a lot of store bought stuff but it's SO nice that convenience vegan foods exists.

Kenike said...

The taquitos are great for when you run out of time making stuff. I've served them for several friend gatherings. They are one of the best vegan products out there. Just, not exactly healthy. :)

Yeah, the burritos are easily for those times where I need something decent to eat and don't have the time. I'd much rather eat those as they are healthier than stopping at Taco Bell. I used to be a fast food junkie, but I rarely go anymore. And while I do make most of my food these days, I do supplment with pre-made meals sometimes when I just get tired of putting together meals.

C said...

Hey there! This is Crystal, we met last weekend at the Vegan Bakesale. :)

I've been checking out your blog and WOW! I have to say I am really inspired and entertained by your posts. Both informative and fun! I'll definiately be following it.

This post is just awesome! I love Mexican food but hadn't really thought about doing anything for Cinco de Mayo. One of our favorite recipes over here is the potato/kale enchilladas from Veganomicon so maybe we'll have to whip some of those up. I'm also looking forward to getting Viva Vegan. I saw it recently at a book store and was so excited.

Anyway, sorry for the long comment. Thank you again for contributing to the Bake sale. By the end of the night we were all fighting over the last cookie.

Kenike said...

Hi Crystal!
Thanks for visiting! It was nice to meet you at the bakesale and it sounds like it went well after I left. Thanks for all the work you did, which was A LOT! It's like you had Felix's bag of tricks because you kept pulling out another container of goodies. :)

I bought V-con before I knew the brilliance of kale, so I prolly skipped over that recipe a bit before. But I LOVE potatoes AND kale, and now I know what I am making next week! YUM!