Vegan Mexican Food ; )

Oreo mazapán!

2012-02-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well, the mexican mazapán I'm familiar with is a kind of marzipan but it's made with peanuts instead of almonds.

Like this one: http://www.alegrofoods.com/images/products/detail/mazapan%20logo.jpg

About a week ago, I went out with a friend to a couple bars at la Condesa (girls night out, wooo) and the end of the night we had to wait for our taxi inside a 7-11 because it was kind of cold outside!

I didn't want to starve at my friend's apartment the next day, so while I was looking for some snacks I found this thing (or my friend did and told me? I don't remember).

I forgot about it until today!
I'm not a big fan of this type of snacks, but it was very sweet and tasty. Kind of like eating an oreo with crunchy peanut butter : )

If you like De la Rosa mazapán and oreo cookies, this treat is for you!

Hello again, Mexico City!

2012-01-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

Alrighty!
I moved to Mexico City (again) almost a month ago.

I'd complain about how I dislike living where I am right now, but you're here to see food, right?

A day after I got here, two of my friends from Tijuana and I went to a place called La buena tierra (The good earth).
Their menu looked awesome and even though it seemed very veggie friendly, it wasn't vegan friendly at all : (

I ordered a juice (the Einstein) and thought I could maybe get a pita sandwich veganized.
The waitress looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if they could leave out the chipotle dressing and sub hummus for cheese in a f*cking pita sandwich.

She didn't get at all what I was asking for, so she suggested bringing some pita, pita with za'atar and hummus (better than nothing!).

Juice menu

Einstein: Celery, beet, pineapple, orange and ginkgo biloba juice (so good!)

Don't get me wrong, I love hummus, but I bought a tub and some pita bread that week and I didn't want to eat more at a restaurant!

Anyway, it may look pretty in these pictures, but it wasn't good.
It was way too sour. I kind of fixed it with a little avocado-garlic oil, salt and pepper, hmm : )

I have a huge food porn backlog, so expect more posts : )!

VeganMoFo 2011: Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm so so so sad because I couldn't manage my time/activities to give some love to my blog this year, but I wanted to do a Day 31 last post : )

We celebrated my dad's birthday on the 23rd and went to Puerto Nuevo to eat.
Puerto Nuevo is a small town near Rosarito here in Baja California and it's known because of all the lobster restaurants that are there.

I thought I was doomed!
Until my mom decided to go to one of the larger places so I could probably have more options; fortunately, I did.

We went to a place called La casa de la langosta AKA The Lobster House.
I checked the menu and saw they had a 'green salad' but none of the dressings were vegan : (
I ordered guacamole and corn tortillas, but my mom asked if I could get sautéed mushrooms or something (they had some sort of melty cheese with mushrooms on the menu) and the answer was YES! Wheeee n__n

Here's what I had:

Guacamole and pico de gallo tacos:

More guacamole/pico de gallo tacos with these garlicky mushrooms:

Bonus pic. My dad looking at some of the weird stuff most curios shops have here.
Check that awful baby "homer" out! haha:

VeganMoFo 2011: Livin' it up at Costco 2.0

2011-10-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Excuse the bad picture!
My DSLr's 18-55 mm lens is dead and I'm using a point and shoot my mom just gave me because she got a new one.

Anyway!
I made pasta for dinner using more stuff that can be found in Costco.

-Diced tomatoes
-Tomato paste
-Peeled garlic cloves
-Tomato sauce
-Black pepper (w/ grinder)
-Kalamata olives
-Wide/ribbed elbow pasta (known as Codo #4)

Can you see I'm in love with this place? well yes I am.

Alright then. Here's how I made my super lazy meal.

I melted some soy free earth balance and sautéed two pressed garlic cloves.
I chopped a few olives and mixed everything. Pretty freaking easy.
At the end, I added garlic salt, sea salt, thyhme, oregano and basil.

I promise I'll feature a less pantry relying meal on the last Livin' it up at Costco.

Thank you for passing by n__n!

VeganMoFo 2011: Livin' it up at Costco 1.0

2011-10-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hello, again!
I made these burritos using stuff I got at Costco here in Tijuana.
Actually, I got the hummus at another Costco (in Ensenada), but they sell it here as well.

-Organic firm tofu
-Hummus with sunflower seeds and paprika
-Uncooked flour tortillas
-Soy sauce (Gallon jug!)
-Dried minced onions

First, I pressed the tofu really quick, cubed it and stir fried it with some cooking spray.
Then I made a marinade with soy sauce, garlic salt, liquid smoke, dried onions and water.
I poured this mix over the tofu and cooked it until there was no liquid left.

I spread some hummus on my cooked tortillas, added the tofu, sriracha sauce and rolled them up.

This is a super simple example of the things you can find at big places like Costco.
I think it's one of the friendliest places to get vegan food down here!

VeganMoFo 2011: Sushi in TJ / intro

2011-10-01T10:55:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!
I've neglected my blog u_u
I haven't posted since December but this is a special occasion, so I plan on reviving VMF with posts about what/where to eat in my city, where to find (coughOVERPRICEDcough) vegan american goodies and even what to do : )

I love sushi.
I eat sushi very very frequently and I don't feel ashamed to admit it.

This is the easiest way to get vegan food in TJ. Go to a sushi/japanese place.
Order the veggie roll sans cream cheese and you're good to go.
There are some places that don't offer a vegetarian roll, but I've never had a problem when asking for a "cucumber and avocado only" roll.

Some places even sell steamed edamame and veganizable tofu appetizers (I'd like my tofu with no bonito flakes, por favor).

Anyway, here are some pictures:

This roll here is the California Roll 55 pesos promotion from a place called Sushi House (Sushi House Express). You get two rolls for the price of one.
Well, this is obviously not a cali roll, but since the veg roll isn't on the menu that's the "official" name of this dish.

This roll is from a place that's across the street from my boyfriend's parents' house but I can't remember its name!!
Their rolls are okay, but a little pricey.

This other roll is from Sushi Express as well, but this time with carrots, tons of lime-y soy sauce and sriracha : D

There are other great sushi places but I have no pictures u__u
My second favorite is Komasa. They have a delicious vegan roll that's filled with sweet and tangy pickled japanese veggies, carrots, cucumber and avocado, edamame and those veganizable tofu appetizers I talked about in the beginning of this post.

AKI sushi is another restaurant I enjoy. Last night I had edamame and a veggie roll filled with carrots, cucumber, avocado and radish sprouts.

Well. My first MoFo post of this year has reached its end. Hopefully, I'll go to Komasa to show you what else you can get at japanese restaurants and post some more pics in here.

: D

Feliz Navidad : )!

2010-12-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't have time (or money) to experiment a lot with mexican christmas food but I did veganize a traditional dish for our Christmas eve dinner and made a punch that's already vegan (unless there's people out there that sweeten said holiday nectar with honey, barf).

Well. I made romeritos, mashed potatoes, gravy, the aforementioned Christmas punch, a celebration roast and a sunflower seed butter cake with chocolate sfb frosting.

It was all really good!
I'm glad I had an all vegan meal, because last year, I accidentally had some dinner rolls that had eggs in them, hmmmph u_u

I didn't take any pictures last night, but here's a picture of my 'breakfast' (I had it at 2:30 PM or so).

VeganMoFo: Sucky month (sucky me)

2010-11-30T22:54:00.000-08:00

Last mofo day, and I posted even less than last year! Shame on me.

As I said in my last post, I'll be posting some Christmas recipes this month : ) and I'm very excited about it.

Anyway, I don't have anything else to say, so I'm leaving you with a picture of a delicious Lula's sundae.

I guess I should write a post about that trip to NYC, huh?
Have a nice week!

VeganMoFo: Beware; -kind of- long post!

2010-11-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hello. I've been hella busy with school and many other things. For example, yesterday, I returned from a mini-trip I made with my dad to a town in Estado de México (estado de méxico is another state in my country, super close to México City).

Why, you ask? Because we were invited to a wedding.
I was really worried because I didn't know if I was going to have food options at both the hotel and wedding reception.
So, I made a quick trip to San Diego with my mom and got a few things...2 clif bars, 2 raw bars, apple sauce, 2 instant rice noodle soups and a cookie : D
All these things were really helpful for the flight and while we were in the hotel room.

Happy applesauce-face before leaving to the airport and part of Master Yoda's head.

Ok, here's the church!

Isn't it gorgeous? It's more than 400 years old : D and it has a beautiful baroque style decoration inside.

The wedding had a beautiful indian theme and many of the bride's relatives got dressed up according to it:

The bride looked so pretty and her dress was amazingly beautiful as well.
Right after the ceremony, we headed to the reception, that was held in a ranch.

Cute/small artificial lake near the reception

Well, well, well, onto the food.
My dad told me that the bride's grandma is a vegetarian...but I never thought there would be vegan food!

Ensalada de nopales: not great, but edible and spicy ; )

The perfect combination of sweet, spicy and tangy; [delicious!!] tamarind martini (I would also say boozy, but I couldn't taste the alcohol)

Tabouleh over lettuce leaves, hummus and pita wedge

After my meal, I had a snack!

Potato chips with lime juice/salt and drowned in hot sauce (valentina!) or Hot sauce with potato chips...

Enjoying the concert (yeah, Juan Gabriel sang at the wedding, haha)

Plane snack (err, breakfast)

I had a great time and the wedding was awesome. I wish I had posted more this month, but it was impossible. Before christmas, I'll be posting holiday recipes : D!
Currently, I have in mind ponche navideño ; ) with piquete (booooze, haha, I'm sorry. Anyway, I think I'll have mine alcohol-less : p).

VeganMofo: Creamy chipotle spaghetti

2010-11-16T19:56:00.001-08:00

I never thought I would ever say this, but I don't think I'm ready to share the recipe; it needs some serious tweaking!

I was so excited because my mom (yeah, again!!) got some silken tofu for me and I've been wanting to make a vegan version of this creamy sauce since forever (alright, maybe since I went vegan : p).

Anyway, I may post another soupy soup recipe tomorrow.

Good night : )!

VeganMoFo: I'm sorry!

2010-11-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

For not posting.
I've been muy busy, but I have a small gift for you...

Have you ever been to Pokez?
Well, then you probably know about their awesome burritos.

I'm a freaking tease and I don't have a recipe for my recreation of the pokez tofu and potato burrito(s), but here's a picture. -I think I got pretty close!-

UPDATE:

Alright! As I've already said, I don't have a recipe for this, but I'll write down some directions.
Are you cool with that? Yeah, you are? Okay!

I peeled a large russet potato, diced it and boiled about 1/4 of it. I pan fried the rest (I used olive oil), along with some minced white onion, minced garlic and creole seasoning. I mashed the potatoes (not completely) with a tbsp tomato sauce, bouillon powder and veggie broth to moisten things up.

I threw a piece of seeded tomato in the pot where the potato bits were boiling, then took everything out until tender.

To make the sauce, I blended the hell out of the boiled potatoes/tomato with a bit of tomato sauce, veggie broth and garlic-parsley salt.

Ok, and for the tofu part, I used about 1/3 block of tofu, teared it in medium-ish pieces, pan fried and seasoned with more garlic-parsley salt and -fresh- cracked black pepper.

Filling: I mixed the mashed potatoes and tofu and used a bit of pico de gallo for one of the burritos.
I rolled them and then poured the sauce over the burritos.

Sorry if the directions are weird and/or boring, hah.

VeganMoFo: Squash and eggplant bisque!

2010-11-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Okay. I love soups and I should make soups more often!

Last night, I was -kind of- craving veggies. Since I'm not a big veggie fan, I decided to have them blended instead.
And then, while searching in the fridge, I found two big eggplants that my mom got for me ♥. Both my heart and mind got illuminated and I started to cook.

Ingredients:

Magda squash and eggplant, diced (about 3/4 cup of each)
Vegetable oil (I'm sure it was more than a teaspoon)
1 tsp jarred minced garlic or fresh minced garlic clove
2/3 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup Veggie broth
Creole seasoning to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and cook the vegetables for a couple minutes. Add the garlic, mix it a bit and add the tomato sauce and broth.
Cook until the soup looks less watery (about 10 minutes).
Remove from heat, blend, blend, blend and return to pan.
Heat until the bisque is bubbly, season and voilà! Your bisque is ready.

Makes 1-2 servings

Plated. Sprinkled with nooch and decorated with sriracha happy face : )

Ohh, this was spicy and really good. Creamy without adding any cream replacements, ha : p

VeganMoFo: Survey.

2010-11-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?

Creamy pasta.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

Avocado.

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?

Fetuccini Alfreda Sauce from VWaV.

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?

Water!

What dish are your “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?

I don't make food for gatherings : ( but people tend to like what I cook : )

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

Sweet or savory stuff on the same plate. Unless it's plantains, chinese or thai food.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

Potato everything (fries, tots, hashbrowns, etc).

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Seitan.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?

Field roast smoked apple sage sausages.

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?

Yes. Tortilla chips with hot sauce and lime juice, potato chips, dried fruit...

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Vegan cheese, seitan, tofu ricotta, spinach, mushrooms.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

That would be zucchini or kale. Watermelon.

What is the best salad dressing?

Maple-mustard!

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?

Almond butter :)

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?

Vegetable soup.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?

Red velvet. Vanilla.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Almond butter chocolate chip cookies.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?

Any pasta dish.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?

Seitan sausages.

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?

About an hour, maybe more.

What about you : D?

VeganMoFo: Sopa de tortilla!

2010-11-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Look at this baby...
It isn't the best picture, I know, but I freaking love tortilla soup!
And I like it even more now as a vegan, because I've been adding some garbanzo beans and love.
Tasty tasty addition, I must say.

Ingredients:

2 tsp veggie oil
2/3 c tomato sauce
1 tbsp. New Mexico chili powder
1 tsp. California chili powder
2 pinches ground cumin
1 1/2 tbsp. veg bouillon powder

Pinch oregano

3 cups water
14 oz. can garbanzo beans (drained)

Heat the oil in a pot and add all the ingredients (except water and garbanzos) until the mix starts to bubble a bit.
Reduce heat and add the water.
Bring to a gentle boil, turn off the heat, add the garbanzos and cover.

Serves 3

Tortilla strips

I don't have an exact recipe for this, but here are some instructions.

Cut desired amount of tortillas into thin (but not too long) strips.
Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan or sauce pot and fry until crispy and golden.
Drain and enjoy!

I garnished my soup with a few avocado slices and a bit of mozzarella daiya on top.
(Oh, and I used just one tortilla for my soup).

I'm still sad. Back in august, when I was vacationing in NYC, a cab driver laughed and said "YOU DON'T LOOK MEXICAN!". What's that supposed to mean?! haha. I know I don't have super black straight hair, awesome chocolaty skin and I'm not short, but really? Do I look like some weird hybrid or something? I don't know, but I love mexican food and traditions; like Día de Muertos : )

In school, some classmates and I made an altar for a deceased teacher

I made a cempazuchitl flower path : D! I swear I worked my ass off taking those petals off of the bulbs

My boyfriend and I went to a cemetery

And after that, we went to the church where my grandpa's ashes are.
I drew something for him, and somehow, that made me happy.

: )

VeganMoFo: Well hello there!

2010-11-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

I'm a lazy person and I'm not hungry enough to cook something right now, so I'll just post some tempeh reuben awesomeness.
Enjoy these pictures ; )

Tomorrow I'll post a recipe and all that.

Tempeh reuben @ Caravan of Dreams in NYC

Tempeh reuben @ Foodswings in NYC

And finally, a tempeh reuben I made back in TJ : )

Happy Birthday to me : D

2010-07-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

Look!
I made cupcakes to celebrate my 21st anniversary.

Meet Monstro, the jelly donut cupcake monster.

I'll spend the day at the Comic-Con and I'll have a small(ish) gathering at my house at night.

Woot!

Salsa de Chile de Árbol

2010-05-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

Since I'm too tired to go to my spinning class today, I'm taking some time to update this thing !

Anyway, chile de árbol rocks !

This prehispanic chile isn't the most spicy of all chiles, but I still had to use canned diced tomatoes to make the sauce more "mild" (I'm using quotation marks because it may be super spicy for many).
If you can't handle too much spiciness, I'd recommend using more guajillo chiles and less chiles de árbol.

Well, here's the recipe.
(OMG, I just noticed that this recipe is pretty similar to the red chile sauce in Viva Vegan [if you don't have that cookbook, you should get it as soon as possible!]; if you like that salsa, you will probably like this one too : ) it probably is a lot spicier than that one, though).

Ingredients:

20 dried de árbol chiles, stems removed
2 large dried guajillo chiles, stems removed

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp. mexican orégano

2/3 cup water
Salt and/or veggie bouillon powder to taste

Heat a skillet or comal and toast the chiles until fragant, they should look like these, but feel free to toast them more or less.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic; let it brown a little and then add the diced tomatoes and the orégano.
Let it simmer if it's liquid-y.

Once the tomato mix is a little drier, blend the hell out of it along with the chiles and the remaining ingredients.

I poured some over broccoli and black beans with nooch, woo. It was awesome.

Black beans, broccoli, pan-fried plantains and a baked tostada

Rajas de chile poblano con tomate y cebolla

2010-05-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Oh Hello there !

This semester's end is near, WOOHOO !

Well, yeah... I see that many people in the U.S. celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Why ?
To be honest, I'm not sure.

-Apparently- Wikipedia has the answer, though:

According to a paper published by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture about the origin of the observance of Cinco de Mayo in the United States, the modern American focus on that day first started in California in the 1860s in response to the resistance to French rule in Mexico. The 2007 paper notes that "The holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico."

Anyway !
I'm using this holiday as an excuse to post a recipe. A simple one.

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegan margarine
1/2 medium white onion - sliced, then halved

Few tbsp water
1 can diced tomatoes and chilies (I used the small Rotel can)
2 or 3 minced garlic cloves
1 1/4 cup (approx.) poblano chile strips [I used store bought]

2 pinches ground cumin
Salt to taste

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized pan.
Sautée the onion and add 3 or 4 tablespoons of water to cook them and to avoid adding more fat (hehe).
Once the onion strips are caramelized, add the diced tomatoes, cumin and garlic. Mix a bit.
Add the poblano chile strips, stir sand let the thing reduce.

Sprinkle all the salt you want, stir again and serrrve.

I had my rajas with fat-free "refried" bayo beans with some daiya sprinkled on top and two tortillas.
I may or may not include instructions to roast, peel and cut your poblano chiles (sorry I'm hella tired right now !).

: D

Enfrijoladas

2010-04-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I've been busy : (

Enfrijoladas are one of my favorite dishes ever.
The usual filling is shredded chicken, but this time I opted for vegan cheese instead of tofu or some kind of mock meat.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup mashed or refried beans

1 tsp. Guajillo chile powder

Pinch ground cumin

Garlic salt to taste

Water, veggie broth or unsweetened non-dairy milk (enough to get a creamy consistency)

4 corn tortillas
Vegan cheese or your choice of protein to fill the tortillas (feel free to use more beans, hehe)
Oil for frying

Extras:
Shredded lettuce
Vegan Cheese for sprinkling
Hot sauce or salsa

Diced onion or whatever you like

Blend the first five ingredients and if your blender isn't cooperating, use more liquid.
Heat the bean mixture in a pan.

Heat the oil in a pan to fry the tortillas. Note: I used cooking spray.
Fry the tortillas (one by one). Just remember that you're aiming for a warm tortilla, not a crunchy tostada.

Put a tortilla in the bean mixture pan and cover it with that beany goodness.
Serve it, fill it and fold it like a taco.
Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Sprinkle and garnish with whatever you fancy or have on hand.
I used shredded lettuce (no kidding...), habanero hot sauce and more daiya.
I discovered that daiya is perfect as a replacement for cotija cheese, but FYH is better as a filling.

Edited to add:
Damn.. I just noticed that many of my posts say stuff like "this is one of my favorite dishes ever". That must change !
I'm not saying it anymore, hah.

I'm back !

2010-01-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

And I've been hella busy !
Here are some pics of what I've been cooking / eating since I came back to Tijuana.

Fruit salad: Melon, papaya, banana, strawberries, kiwi, apples, pears, guava and slivered almonds / walnuts / raisins to top it.

Xmas eve dinner: Potato rolls (not vegan : ( I found out the next day !!), vegan dad's seitan roast (modified), smoky almond gravy thing from Vegan Brunch and beer.

Vegan pineapple tamal

Marinated / baked tofu and mushroom pizza

Refried black beans, fried potatoes tacos with raw green salsa (recipe to come n_n)

Sopa de pasta (recipe to come)

Gumbo at Disneyland !!

Pretzels : )

Chicken-less quesadilla made with a whole wheat tortilla, gardein chicken-less strips and Vegan Explosion's Queso

Chik'n sandwich (ezekiel bread, daiya cheese sauce, shredded carrot, mustard, baby bellas, baby spinach, boca chik'n pattie and sriracha sauce)

Daiya (cheddar) cheese quesadilla and eggplant, tofu and tomato spicy thing I made.

Grilled cheese sandwich ! (daiya cheddar cheese / ezekiel sprouted grain bread)

Imagine creamy portobello soup with extra thyme, black pepper and soy sauce

Sautéed spinach with minced onions, cinnamon, cumin, sesame seeds, salt and red wine vinegar
Garbanzo beans, tvp, eggplant spicy thing and white rice with corn.

Nachos con 'carne'
Tortilla chips, vegan explosion's queso (now with habanero rotel instead of the regular one !) and seasoned tvp

VeganMoFo: Party.

2009-10-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hmm, last MoFo day : ( [Oh, right; Happy Halloween !]
A friend threw a party for his birthday last night and who would've imagined ?; all the food was vegetarian !
I helped him to make this little pita bites:

: )

Filled with pea/spearmint spicy spread, cucumber and tomato slices.

That got dressed later.

Hmm.. plain green beans.

kittehhh

I couldn't stay all night, but I enjoyed the short time I was there.

VeganMoFo: TJ and San Diego; Part III and more beer.

2009-10-26T22:18:00.001-07:00

I'm not in the mood to write a lot, but here are some things I got at WF and walmart.
Some other things were standing lonely in my home's pantry and I decided to bring them, too.

Hmm.. I love Alternative Baking Co. cookies ! This one was a bit too sweet for my taste, but nice afterall.

I wanted to go to a 100% veg restaurant yesterday and got lost because of some stupid people's directions. I went to Sanborns instead, wich is a non vegan-friendly chain of restaurants.
I got a salad, french fries and this beer (Negra Modelo), soo good.

VeganMoFo: TJ and San Diego; Part II

2009-10-25T20:27:00.001-07:00

This is the place I went after going to Pizza Fusion and before grabbing some tacos.
It's one of my favorite bars in downtown Tijuana and it already has the halloween vibe on !

I prefer to celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) though, because it's a national holiday.
But come on ! Who doesn't like to go to costume parties and eat lots of candy ?
(I know those aren't the original things someone would do to celebrate All Hallow's Eve, but I insist it's still pretty cool AND fun).

I went to WF after having dinner with my family and got this beauty:

Hmm.. Fluffy vegan goodness.

I got to make the Beer-battered Tofu from Vegan Brunch (finally !)
and I wasn't dissapointed; it's pretty tasty.
The only bad thing about this is that I had to use crappy lager beer.

Hmm.. Raw hummus wraps (from Nature's Express.. but I got them at WF, too) !
These were awesome !
The only thing I didn't like is that there's mint in them. -_-

VeganMoFo: Condesa 3.0 / Beer !

2009-10-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

Oh f yeah !
I love it here.
My original plan was to have lunch at a restaurant in the Roma neighborhood, but I ended up in the wrong metro station and went to The green corner again instead, hehe.
I had my cinematographic language class at 4, but the waiter didn't tell me the lentil soup was made with chicken stock. Ughh, I told him it was okay to not have the soup, but I got the lunch of the day and he insisted on replacing the soup for another one.
I took his offer, hah. Had a delicious black bean soup instead with fried tortilla strips on top and couldn't make it -err, to school-, oh well !

I had the Tofu a la mexicana, too. I was a bit skeptical about the dish but Oh was I so wrong.. The tofu was delicious !
Cubed tofu pan fried and mixed with juicy diced tomatoes and minced green bell pepper and onions. So simple yet amazingly flavorful !
The dessert was mehh, so I had some sorbet from Roxy's.

Key lime and tamarind.

A friend got the flu, so, he asked me to go to his place to pick up a video we had to present today..
I went to a bar to wait (he wanted to meet up in an hour, so..).
I had a beer.

Indio beer from random bar in Av. Tamaulipas.

I finished my beer, was on my way to his house, when he called and told me that he was at the hospital to get his blood tested or something like that.
I kept walking and stopped by the Barracuda !
It's a burger restaurant, 50's style.
They have some vegetarian options that can be easily veganized.
Hmm..portobello burger..
I wasn't hungry, heheh, but still, I got an order of french fries and another beer.

Heineken !

I'm not that into mixed drinks, but that looked nice (and cheap) !

More Indio (DRAFT !!) and on the house..
Ohh, there's nothing better than getting delicious draft beer for free, hah.

My friend pseudo-ditched me, the cab central I called didn't have any cabs near the restaurant and had to wait more ! Uhh..
The bartender got a little pitty on me, tried to hit on me and served me this beauty of a beer, hahah.
Ohh, what a day.

VeganMoFo: TJ and San Diego; Part I

2009-10-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, as I assume that some of you know, I'm from Tijuana and not from México City.
I visited my family and of course, I had to visit my beloved SD, too, hah !

We went to Pizza Fusion.
Behold !
I now give you some crappy cellphone food p0rn !

Personal pizza: Multigrain crust, tomato sauce, FHY vegan cheese, crimini mushrooms, roasted garlic and (not so yummy) veg mock beef. Hmm.

The vegan (and gluten-free !) brownie. SO GOOD.

I owe you the vegan tacos pic (I have a friend at a Taquería, you know.. hahah).

Edit: Here's the pic !

Just guacamole, delish salsa and diced onion.

VeganMoFo: Rajas con crema and.. spaghetti ?

2009-10-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Iceberg lettuce salad with soy sauce chipotle dressing
(soy sauce, lime juice, crushed chipotles, agave nectar and sesame seeds) / steamed carrots and swiss chard

Yesterday's leftovers mixed with spaghetti

Oh yeah !

PS.
Sorry for the crappy pictures, heheh.
The veggies were..bleh.
The salad was great and the spaghetti too.

VeganMoFo: Rajas con crema.

2009-10-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Lady F cooked chard and roasted some poblano peppers for me today.
She opened a can of corn too and I really didn't know what to make with those veggies.

I had a silken tofu package sitting on the counter top for more than a month, until I remembered I wanted to veganize one of my favorite dishes ever; Rajas con crema !
They're normally made just with poblano peppers and corn (and sometimes onion), but the chard was a pretty good addition.

There are no exact measurements; anyway, here's what I used:

1 (12 oz./349 g.) box Firm silken tofu
2 tbsp. Nutritional yeast
1 tsp. crushed jalapeños
Hot sauce (just a bit)
dash of Garlic powder
Salt to taste
Water (to desired consistency)

Blend, heat in a sauce pan, throw in the veggies and serve (I served it over brown rice, hmm). That's all.

The nooch made this sauce taste almost like the real thing.
This is the first time I make a sauce out of silken tofu and it was great (so creamy !).
Well, I -kinda- lied. The pine nut crema from Vegan Latina calls for silken tofu, but this is different.
I will totally make this again !

VeganMoFo: More portobello madness.

2009-10-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought making a garlicky curry marinade for the portobello mushroom I was planning to eat was a good idea, but I was wrong.. It was a GREAT idea.
It consisted of dried minced garlic, curry powder, soy sauce and some water.
I pan-'fried' some steamed spinach and carrots in the same pan where I cooked the mushroom and added a bit more soy sauce and sesame seeds to have on the side (and steamed potatoes with ketchup and habanero sauce -again-).

VeganMoFo: Stuffed portobello and cucumber/carrot salad

2009-10-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

I got some portobello mushrooms last Tuesday ♥
I still have some veggie meat and I didn't want to have a portobello sandwich again, so I thought, hmm, why not stuff it ?
The elder lady I live with cooked some carrots and potatoes and diced cucumber for me.

Oh, and lucky me, because I'm currently loving this combo: Cucumber, soy sauce, lime juice and sesame seeds. The perfect cucumber salad.
I didn't know what to do with the steamed carrots, so I just tossed them with the cucumber thing I made.

Gotta go.
Today I'm going to a friend's band concert and I have to pick up my ticket at the hotel they're staying at. Good thing it isn't too far from my house.

Give them a shot if you want, here's their myspace page.

VeganMoFo: Penne 'Bolognese'

2009-10-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I love whole wheat pasta and this was the perfect opportunity to open the w w penne bag I bought when I first got here.

Bad thing it wasn't as good as it looked : (
The leftovers were pretty tasty, though.
The sauce was a little bitter and I used all of it for that serving, so for the leftovers, I just used some plain tomato sauce, the veggie meat and added a little salt.. Oh, greatness.

I really don't have a recipe, but I used tomato sauce, (drained) crushed tomatoes, salt, garlic, parsley and more garlic.

Three years ago, I wasn't attending school, so, I had lots of free time and I spent most of it trying to perfect my marinara sauce recipe. And I did; at least I think so, hah.
I wish I could eat some of it right now : (
When thinned, it was the best tomato soup ever !

VeganMoFo: Soy Milk

2009-10-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, I remember the first time I tried soy milk. I was a little weirded out at first, but now I love it.
I bought a plain silk carton once (about 5 years ago), forgot about it and some months later a Dr. gave me a box with 10 cartons aprox. It was awesome !

I still don't like to drink soy milk straight (unless is flavored), but I couldn't live without it.

The summer of 2005 was the summer of granola w/ soy milk for breakfast ♥
and now is the fall of corn flakes w/ crappy soy milk, mehh, so boring !

I love almond milk too, but I can't get it here.

VeganMoFo: Personal cooking challenge.

2009-10-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

I want to know if any of you'd want me to veganize a mexican food recipe.
Would you ?
If the answer is yes, comment please.

Since moving away from Tijuana to México City, I haven't been able to experiment and upload more recipes to the blog, but I want to make a big effort this month just because it's VeganMoFo : )

I know that I don't have many readers, but I really want to bring up some food challenges into my life, hah.

VeganMoFo: Downtown / Condesa 2.0

2009-10-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today, I went to Centro Histórico (downtown) and took some pictures of all the riots and manifestants that were remembering the 41st anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre.
All the walking and the picture-taking thing made me feel pretty hungry and I had this (only 15 pesos !):

Grilled corn with lime, chili powder and salt. Hmm : )

I returned to Condesa (Tamaulipas, again !) and got some beer at a place that sells lots of flavored mezcal. I don't like mezcal, plus, some bottles have a worm in it; not my style.

Mini coronas and (giant !!) fava beans with chili powder. (please, ignore the cheese in the back, haha, it wasn't mine).

VeganMoFo: Condesa.

2009-10-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Condesa is a neighborhood here in México City and by far, one of my favorites.
I recently quitted a class, so I have lots of free time in the morning/early afternoon.
Near Patriotismo metro station is Tamaulipas Ave., that has the best ice cream shop ever.
I had to stop there before having lunch.

Mandarin / key lime sorbet

After having the icy treat pictured above, I went to The green corner.
The green corner is a local chain of natural food restaurants and markets.
I only had enough money to eat, so I didn't buy anything : (
Next time I will : D !
I chose the Macrobiotic menu from the daily menu choices.
I got mushroom soup, wheat berry picadillo, brown rice (plus other sides) and hot green tea for 85 pesos. (I'll post the pics later).

The restaurant is outside and the market inside.

Update Oct. 23: The food !

There's another Roxy ice cream shop across the restaurant, so, I couldn't resist having more sorbet for dessert, heh.

Pineapple !

I got to my school by 4 and by 6 I was off to starbucks to have a soy latte and some good reads (I couldn't read because a couple in other table was having a loud conversation, HMM. DAMNIT !)

VeganMoFo: School eats.

2009-09-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hello. This is andi, blogging for VeganMoFo !

This is gonna be fun.

I can't eat at my place because I go to school from 1 to 6, so I'm constantly looking for vegan eats at the university.

First, the vegetarian panini (sans cheese and butter).
It's just red pepper, zuchinni, carrots and jalapeños, but the bread is really good.

almost done with it. hee.

and salad from the salad bar..

cucumber, raw mushrooms, crappy corn, jícama, iceberg lettuce and crushed pecans with tamarind dressing.

ohh yeah ! this was pretty good, actually.

Crappy food made good food.

2009-09-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the chance to cook elaborate meals, because I don't have the time or I'm too tired when I do have it.
I've been living from pre-packaged food and bland veggies as I predicted somewhere in the PPK.

Papa con chorizo (potatoes and soy chorizo, sauteéd), curried veggies (canned veggie salad [HAHHA; peas, pigeon peas, carrot, potatoes, green beans] with a little tomato sauce, garlic, soy sauce, habanero sauce and lots of curry powder) and some fried plantain slices in the back.

But, let me tell you that not everything's so bad, because I really enjoyed this meal. The only fresh stuff in there were the potatoes in the chorizo, and the spinach and the mushrooms in the curried veggies. Everything else was canned, from a box or from a plastic bag, hah [except for the plantains, of course].

The veggies were pretty good and spicy, the plantains sweet and perfect and de chorizo was awesome, too.

I already have an idea for VeganMoFo (kinda lame, but at least I finally have one !). I'll be posting about restaurants, natural goodies stores and I'll try to make up some recipes (I don't promise anything !).

Take care.

I'll be back..

2009-09-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

For VeganMoFo !

I don't have a theme yet, but I'll be posting, that's for sure !

I've been eating out..

2009-08-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

And I don't have any pictures !
I don't like to carry my dSLR with me for obvious reasons. I ride on buses and take taxis every single day and I don't feel comfortable with the possibility of being robbed while walking back home.

Well..

At school:
There are 3 cafeterias and I've only been to one of them.
There aren't any vegan options in that one (not even 'veganizable' options) besides fresh fruit, but there's a salad bar outside where I have many veggies to choose from ; )
I usually don't order nothing there, eat a lärabar or something and wait to get home and eat properly, but last friday I was starving and decided to give the salad bar a try.
I'm not pretty sure, but of the 6 dressings available, I think only one is vegan (sesame-peanut).
I didn't really ask, so I got mine dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Out in the streets:
Gigantic tacos : O !
I got one filled with mashed potatoes (with added pickled red onions and red sauce) and other one filled with sauteéd nopales and onions (with added green sauce) and ate them while riding on the metro back to my house.

Chamoyadas :{ ) !
I'm addicted to that stuff.
I used to eat raspados while I still was in high school and missed them so much.
They're pretty much the same thing.
Shaved ice with fruit syrup (mango, tamarind, lime or pineapple...), drizzled with hot sauce, chamoy, lime juice, plus chili powder and salt. (Ughh, not my fave..)
I got one yesterday from an ice cream shop, but instead of shaved ice and fruit syrup, they serve it like this: One or two scoops of your water-based 'ice-cream' (sorbet ? well, I got orange and pineapple) and chamoy (that wasn't chamoy !! it was more like tamarind chili syrup) and miguelito (ahhh I love miguelito. miguelito's a chili powder candy).

I got a chamoyada at a mall and it's way better than the other I got to taste.
Your choice of mango, lime or tamarind slushee with chamoy, chili powder (sugary : ) like miguelito) and a topping (there are some to choose from).
Hands down, one of the best I've ever had !
The place is called Chilim-Balam, and it's a mexican candy shop. They sell some gringo candy too, haha (like wonka candies !!), but it's mainly mexican candy.

I think that's it..
I'm so darn hungry right now !

I'm stuck in my bedroom because the lady that rents me the room has some visits (family).
I'll use this as an excuse to finish my loads of homework and eat later.

My pantry-closet

2009-08-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Yes. That's what I said. A pantry-closet !
The lady (the one I'm living with), went to the market with his brother, but she forgot to ask me what I eat.
I bought lots of stuff and I had to store some of it in my closet, because the pantry is full of shiz.
There are some things that I got that the lady already had (the difference is that some of mine are organic and NEW.. the garlic powder looks like it has been sitting there for eons).
One of my housemates, told me that the day she first arrived to the house, the lady go a little mad at her because of the things she got (and that the lady already has).
That's the main reason I'm "hiding" my stuff.
The other reason, is that there's almost no space.
Anyway..

Whole wheat spaghetti and penne rigate, yellow mustard, agave nectar, chipotle and jalapeño relishes, v8 juice, crushed tomatoes, organic ketchup (WTF : D?!), tomato sauce, safflower oil, garbanzo beans, garlic powder, curry powder, mushrooms, chia seeds, a chocolate/puffed quinoa bar and dried epazote.
(there's more [like quinoa, brown rice, magda squash, mushrooms, potatoes, tabasco and soy sauce], but I stored it in the kitchen).

Everything in order..

Finally. I'm here !

2009-07-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm staying at my uncle's.
Yesterday, I went to Nutrisa (a frozen yogurt/yogurt soft-serve place).
I didn't know, until some weeks ago, that they have some kind of healths food micro-market inside.
They have some vegan options like what I got: Brown rice cakes !
I ate two with almond butter (I managed to bring a jar from home n_n) and a sliced apple on the side.

The cakes. A mexican brand, I believe.

The babies. Blondie the old hairy chihuahua and Ringo the young...pomeranian ?.

Today's my birthday n_n

2009-07-22T12:00:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I'm already 20..
O_O !
I'm happy because I have the feeling that this year, the celebration won't be as crappy as last year's.
The bad thing is that I feel pretty sad too..
A friend from middle school passed away and I don't even know what exactly happened to her.
She was a good person with lots of qualities.
I hope that her family and closest friends recover pretty soon from this terrible loss.

Well..
Here's what I've eaten so far..

CARB BOMB:
VB Perfect pancakes with real maple syrup (grrr, the last ml) and crappy potato-good seitan (the seitan is a vegan latina test recipe) hash with lots of ketchup.
Don't know how I managed to eat everything.

Oh yes... And I'll be off to get some sushi in 2 hours.

drama

2009-07-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ughh, I'm worried about my blog.
I'm moving from here in little more than a week and don't know if I'll be living in an apartment or in one of those houses near the university that offer rooms.
If I get to live in an apartment, that would be pretty good news !
I would cook everything I can/want and post it here : )
But, if I don't, I would almost starve and post take-out stuff or something like that : (
Why do I say that ?
Well, because in the other house, all meals are included in the rent.
I don't know what the f* I am going to eat !
I doubt the lady-cook will accommodate to my vegan necessities. And in case she does, I'm still taking with me a gigantic bag full of nooch.

Anyway, today is my brother's birthday and we had some kind of pool party.

Some lunch I brought for me:

hmm : ) watermelon !

My new obsession: Oat bran graham crackers and creamy-crunchy almond butter

accidentally vegan chili-lime wheat chicharrones

my brother and my jumping cousin

Some weird mask/pot thing that was hanging in one of the walls of the house where we had the party.

Plain ruffles

: )

El mejor pastel de 3 leches -ever-

2009-07-09T01:25:00.000-07:00

That's Terry's Un-tres leches cake (without the shredded coconut that's supposed to go on top of it).
I've always hated terribly 3 leches cake.
I just think it's too moist (WAY TOO MOIST).
But this vegan version is delicious !
I love it : )
If you're a vegan latina tester and reading this, please, try it with mango !
It's goes perfectly with the cake, really.

I was planning on making a vegan 3 leches cake, but I know this one would beat mine terribly, hah. I don't like giving up, but I have to.

I've been pretty busy...

2009-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

...Getting my essentials and some extra stuff at the supermarket:

Can of hominy, garbanzo flour, vital wheat gluten, spinach, chocolate chips, light brown sugar, lemon extract, almond and soy milk, agar agar flakes, puffins, soy yogurt, plain tempeh, whole wheat hot dog buns and extra-firm tofu.

Celebrating my bestie's 22nd birthday:

tecate-buzzed
(hence the weird smiley faces I drew; I got neat Photoshop skills, huh ?)

Going to the San Diego County Fair:

view from the big wheel...

Testing:

Crappy picture of something really tasty, potato-y and seitan-y.

Bake Me Up LA

2009-06-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure about doing the 2 hour-trip to LA, but, since I couldn't make my own bake sale (I couldn't decide about almost everything, gave up and had the idea of organizing one -with time!-the next year) and the San Diego bake sale will be held on September (I'll be in México City by then), I thought that it would be nice to support one of the nearest vegan bake sales.

If you live in the LA area or want to make a trip like me, you should go !
No, no, no, let me put that right..You HAVE TO go.

No vegan can resist baked vegan goodies !

Indulge ; ) !

Well. I was all excited about this mini-trip, because I've always wanted to eat at an all-vegan restaurant, but my mom and brother are really skeptic and picky.

Some minutes ago, my dad was all like "Yeah, we should go to a vegetarian food place !".

He's not a vegetarian, but he likes to try new veggie stuff.

Once, I made Isa's sausages with garbanzo beans instead of pinto beans since that's what I got in hand; my mom tried them and said they had an unpleasant strong flavor.
My dad really liked them and of course, I loved them : )

I tried to look for some vegan friendly restaurants and didn't succeed; too vegan for my family or not vegan friendly for me.

I really wanted to eat in a veg restaurant, since I can't do that pretty often; there aren't many vegetarian options here in Tijuana and the vegetarian food from natural restaurants isn't tasty enough.

There aren't many vegan products available either; I buy almost everything in San Diego. This is the only "uncommon" stuff I can get in TJ: Organic Firm Tofu, TVP in many forms, vacuum-packed silken tofu, Silk -unsweetened, plain, vanilla and chocolate-, vegan patties, organic edamame and I guess that's all, ha !

There's a super-market about 1 minute from where I live and I swear...most veggies and fruits spoil !

Ooh, and the worst of all, is that I used to drink a lot of this strawberry soy milk thing made by a mexican company that makes juice and soy milk beverages, until I found out my beloved soy milk had Carmin as a natural colorant.
There's another mexican brand that sells strawberry soymilk, but I'm not sure about the colorants.

I'm glad to know that my regimen won't be much of a problem once I'm living in México City, because I made a quick investigation and there are some organic markets and vegetarian restaurants (most of them Vegan Friendly !).

Anyway, I'm tired of complaining, hah.
I need to sleep !

Arroz Rojo

2009-06-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

It's my post #13.
Gimme some Social D !
Because Thirteen's my lucky number ; )
Okay, that's all for now.

The red rice, and on the back, a vegan latina tester and some okra-spinach thing I
made with creole seasoning, curry and sesame seeds.

When I was like 14 or so, I used to eat bowls of this red rice.
I just love it : )

Ingredients:

2 cups long grain rice
4 cups water
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp. garlic salt with parsely (or regular salt to taste)

In a pot (high-heat), stir the rice until some white specks appear or until slightly toasted.
Pour in the water carefully; mix in the tomato sauce.
Stir to get everything combined, add the salt and stir again.
When the water reaches a boil, cover with lid and lower heat.
Oh, are those rice grains sneeking trough a thin tomato-y film already : ) ?
Uncover and once you're sure the water evaporated almost completely, turn the heat off.
Let it sit for a while (or until warm enough to eat).

Vegan Brunch

2009-06-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy !
I went yesterday to Barnes and Noble with my mom to buy my dad a father's day present and immediately walked towards the vegetarian cookbooks section.
I grabbed a Vegan Brunch copy and when we got home, I made blueberry scones and the smoked almond gravy.

Baby Scones ~!

I've never made scones (or tried, until yesterday) and they turned out great !
They have a biscuit-y consistency and are delicious.

It was hard not to eat all the smoked almond gravy by itself when I finished cooking it; it's pretty tasty too..
I was planning on making some mashed potatoes to go under all that almond goodness, but I have many recipes to test for vegan latina (I totally forgot about it; BAD TESTER !).

A bad picture I took of the book cover

Well, as soon as I can make more recipes from vegan brunch, I'll post my thoughts about them.

Oh ! and I'll be posting a Gorditas recipe soon.
Have a very very nice day !

"Huevo" con chorizo

2009-06-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Steamy/crappy picture of the result

I love soy chorizo...I've been eating it since forever, because my mom (I'm not really sure why) prefered to buy that kind rather than the pork or beef kinds.
The only problem I have with chorizo is that it's way too oily.
I used to dream of soy chorizos that I didn't have to press to get most of the oil out..(not !)
But, we all know that won't happen (ever).
That's why I tried to make my own.It doesn't taste better, but at least isn't extremely oily like the some store-bought kinds.

Chorizo

Ingredients:
1/2 cup TVP
Water
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. guajillo chile powder
Onion salt/salt to taste

Pour hot water over the TVP and let it absorb all the water. If there's some water left, drain the tvp.
In a small bowl, mix the vinegar and the oil until almost emulsified.
Add the other ingredients and mix well.
With a spoon, pour small amounts of the marinade over the tvp until all the granules are covered.
Put the chorizo in a foil sheet and roll to form a sausage (you know how to make seitan sausages right ? it's the same procedure, only the mix is crumbly rather than elastic).
Put the roll in the fridge and leave it there for a day and a half.

Okay..I didn't like the flavor (I went all crazy with the paprika, so it has a sweet hint).But..I had to give it a chance, at least for this other recipe... Chorizo Tofu Scramble !

Chorizo-Tofu scramble

Ingredients:

1/3 chorizo "sausage"
1/3 block firm tofu
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
2 tsp. nutritional yeast

Put a skillet in medium heat; add the tofu and mash it.
Mix in the salt and the nooch.
Add the chorizo; mix. Serve with some tabasco sauce and corn tortillas or a bread slice ; )

Ensalada de Coditos

2009-06-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't mexican, but I remember eating this salad as a child at family parties and other kind of gatherings. I used to pick out most of the ham bits before eating it (I was never a red meat person, haha -_-).

Ingredients:

Handful Elbow shaped pasta
1 tbsp. vegenaise
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/4 tsp. crushed chipotles or chipotle adobo sauce
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. garlic salt w/ parsley (or just plain garlic salt)
Crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 or 1 stalk celery (diced)

Cook the pasta in enough water with a dash of salt until the pasta is al dente (about 6 minutes).
When the pasta is cooked, strain and wash with cold water.

Now, for the dressing, mix everything (except for the celery) until well combined and then throw in the diced celery. Mix in the pasta and chill until ready to eat.

It tastes just as I remember, only, better ; ) !
Feel free to double or triple the recipe, since it only yields 1 to 2 servings.

: )

Pineapple-Quince Jam ; )

2009-06-08T23:00:00.001-07:00

2 weeks ago, I went to Valle de Guadalupe (Valle de Guadalupe is a wine region here in Baja California, near the city of Ensenada [or in Ensenada. I'm not pretty sure]) with some friends to celebrate another friend's birthday.
I'm not a wine-drinker, so I thought I wouldn't enjoy the trip as much as the others, but I was SO WRONG !

After having lunch, we headed to the most popular vineyard of the region, hah.
The place is kinda cool; there's a road is between the vineyards : ) and at the end of it, a store with tables on the outside.
The store is great...There are a lot of things to sample like cheeses and wine, but the best stuff to sample are their organic jams !
Here's a list of the flavors I remember:
Jalapeño
Grape
Quince
Pumpkin
Coconut-Pineapple

And the others that I didn't sample because they ran out of bread slices:
Wine
Habanero
Chili
Orange Tomato-Chiltepin Chili (WTF?)
Chipotle
Mint
Quince-Pineapple

I got the pineapple-quince without tasting it (since I did sampled the quince and coconut-pineapple jams, thought that it HAD to taste as good as those).
Fortunately, I was right.
It tastes great; not too sweet, and the consistency is a little chunky (pineapple chunks...ohh yeah...).

It's a pretty vegan friendly place; the vegetarian pizza they offer is cheeseless and I guess and hope for vegan wine lovers, that the only non-vegan wine is the honeywine.
They also have a wide variety of oils (olive, rice, peanut, sesame, chili-sesame, garlic olive, chili olive...), some vegan soaps, wheat-seaweed chicharrones (woohoo !), olives and other stuff that I know you wouldn't be interested in (mostly cheese products).

I hope that if you live near the Baja or plan to visit it, you have the oportunity to go to that vineyard (L.A. Cetto).

Mehh, I know that I can count my readers with the fingers of one of my hands and still have like 2 or 3 fingers left hahha : ( but still, I'll post another recipe soon ; ) !

And now, some babbling in spanish:

Un saludo a Annie (Vegan en México [Monterrey]) que ya llegó a su post #100 ; ) !

Esa fue una noticia buena, pero desgraciadamente, también hay una mala; internaron a su abuelita, así que les pido a los religiosos que anden rondando por ahí, que pidan porque se mejore y a los ateos, pues que mínimo le dejen un mensajito de apoyo en su blog, jeje.

No sé ustedes, pero yo me la he pasado de visita en visita a hospitales y clínicas por casos de 4 parientes distintos (mi abuelo, mi abuela y mis papás) y es bastante pesado y desgastante y siempre viene bien aunque sea un poquito de apoyo, por parte de otros familiares y de los amigos. Por eso le mando un abrazo virtualesco y espero que dicha situación mejore y que sea pronto ; ) !

See ya..

Molletes

2009-05-28T18:01:00.001-07:00

Oo, I love these : )
I used to eat them a lot 3 or 2 years ago while I was still in high school until I found some beef bits lying within the melted cheese
-_- !
Maybe the refried beans came out of a can, and contained lard... Lesser vegetarian options for me.

Anyway, there are many things that still keep me from ordering them at school and have not eaten them in a while.

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:
1 diced tomato
1/3-1/2 cup diced white onion
Bunch diced cilantro (about 1/4 cup)
1 diced serrano or jalapeño pepper
Juice of one lime
Salt

Too easy !
Just mix everything and add enough salt (and pepper too if you like).

Molletes

Ingredients:
1 Bolillo bread
Refried bayo beans
Shredded vegan cheese of choice (mozzarella or monterey jack style)

Cut the bread lengthwise and toast
or brown a little in a skillet or griddle.
Spread the refried beans on the bread and sprinkle desired amount of cheeze.
Microwave for a minute and add some Pico de gallo and avocado slices.

: )

Tofu en Achiote

2009-05-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hello.. I was in the mood for some achiote smothered baked tofu.This is the first time in years that I eat something with this sauce. I used to eat fried tacos filled with chicken with achiote sauce (yeah, that sounds pretty unhealthy !) as a kid and really missed its tangy flavor.

Ingredients:
1 block firm or extra firm tofu (frozen; then thawed)
1 Achiote (annatto) paste block [3.5 OZ.]
1/3 cup Orange juice (use fresh squeezed -bitter is better for this recipe-)
1/3 cup Water
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 400°F
Blend all the ingredients until no lumps are visible.Cut the tofu in 8 slices (I cut the block widthwise half and then halved the two pieces lengthwise and repeated 'til i got the 8 slices).
Cover the tofu slices with the achiote sauce and let marinate for 20-30 minutes.
Put the slices in a baking sheet, put more sauce over them and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn over the slices, put more sauce if desired and bake for another 15 min.Let the pieces cool a bit and then, they'll be ready to eat ; )

You can slice them and use as taco filling, along with chopped lettuce, avocado and some hot sauce.

Chilaquiles (rojos)

2009-05-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite things to eat.. Chilaquiles (red, to be specific, because there are variations; like green and in mole sauce) : D !
Basically, they're tortilla chips (totopos) covered with sauce.
The usual toppings are sour cream, crumbled cheese, diced/sliced onion and other things you can mix in, like meat (beef or chicken) and/or scrambled eggs.

I like them plain, and sometimes eat them along some refried pinto or bayo beans.
You can eat them just like I do : p or pour over better than sour cream and "cheese" (grated is better ;) ).
You can use tofu to substitute the scrambled eggs or seitan, chik'n strips or soy curls to substitute the meat.

PS.
I like mine all soft and saucy, but if you don't, just put desired amount of tortilla chips in your plate and pour over the sauce when ready to eat.

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes
2 1/4 cups plain tomato sauce
1 tsp. guajillo pepper powder
1 tsp. de árbol pepper powder
1 tsp. california pepper powder
veggie (vegan) bouillon powder as needed (or salt and dried cilantro or spice of choice)

12 handfuls of tortilla chips (less, if you plan to pour the sauce over them)

Put in the blender all the ingredients (except for the bouillon or salt) and blend until smooth.
Pour the sauce in a pan and let it heat a bit (stir if needed).
Add the bouillon powder/salt; stir and add the tortilla chips.
Turn the heat off and stir gently to get all the tortilla chips covered with the sauce.
Enjoy : )

Champiñones al Ajillo

2009-05-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

This one's pretty easy and nice : D, but i had a problem with the guajillo peppers (sometimes, they don't cook enough..so i'll just show you what i did and tell you what i will do next time to make them taste as perfect as they were meant to taste).

Well...
Hello there, meet the Guajillo pepper.

Usually, you can find them dehydrated (just like those in the pictures).
And because of that, i put them to soak in some hot water while i sliced the mushrooms.

pretty mushrooms waiting to be sliced by me, muahahah...

Ingredients:

5 (more or less) Guajillo peppers
6 cups sliced mushrooms
2 1/2 tsp. Diced garlic
Aprox. 1 tsp (vegan) veggie bouillon powder

OK.. first of all, i washed and then soaked my peppers in some hot water and meanwhile, sliced the mushrooms.
When I finished slicing the mushrooms I put them on a side and started working with the peppers.

I pulled the stem of every pepper and shook them to get all the seeds out.
(follow this onlt if you prefer my wrong method [don't think you'll do that, but just in case...]).
I recommend you use a pretty sharp knife to slice the peppers (lengthwise). Once you do this, slice them widthwise.

Put a pan in medium heat and cover all its surface with olive oil spray.
Sautée the garlic and the pepper; add the mushrooms when garlic gives any sign to start popping around.
Keep sautéing until mushrooms are well cooked.

Okay..now, the other method for the peppers.

Pull the stems, shake the seeds out and boil them 'til soft (not too soft; you probably won't be able to slice them).
Slice them and if some seeds are left, you can discard them or leave them if they're just a few.

Now you can sautée the peppers and the remaining ingredients ; ) !

I'm looking forward to post some more recipes the next week : D

Remember to pull the stems.

Sautéing the guajillo peppers and the diced garlic.

The good and messy result.

school and recipe testing..

2009-05-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy (mostly because of school and someone else's cookbook testing), but yesterday was the last day of this semester -at least for me :p- !

So, you may stay tuned for more recipes : D

While i make up some veganized goodies, I'll get ready to leave young TJ (for 1 or maybe 2 semesters) for a bigger and more contaminated city; México City.
This is good news for me and for this blog, because DF has a lot more traditional mexican food/ingredients available than TJ.

"If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear? Yes. Chuck Norris hears it. Chuck Norris can hear everything. Chuck Norris can hear the shrieking terror in your soul."

Hah..

Bean-crumble burrito

2009-05-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

Tried to make beanballs; they were too soft, but tasty.

I was planning to serve them with rice and some sauce from the post above...but someone got rid of the cooked rice that was in the fridge waiting to be eaten by me.
So, I said something like "pff.. ya qué?!" and thought it would be nice to put those beanballs in a flour tortilla and call it a burrito.

I mashed the beanballs when rolling and pressing the tortilla to make the eating part a little easier, hah.

I'd post the recipe for the beanballs but the balls didn't turn out right enough to do that (i will, but first, i have to perfect it).
These are the main ingredients i used: low fat refried (bayo) beans, morning star grillers crumbles and vital wheat gluten.

Caldillo de chipotle

2009-04-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

My first recipe !

This one's a sorta modified basic (you can leave out the chipotle sauce and add more tomatoes, veggie broth or water). You can pour it over some chiles rellenos, beanballs with rice or whatever you like.

Ingredients:

8 oz. Chipotle adobo sauce
3 Roma tomatoes cut into octaves
1 1/2 tsp. Minced garlic
1/4 cup Vegetable broth
Salt

Blend tomatoes with chipotle sauce, garlic and veggie broth until smooth.
Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.
Has the sauce reached its boiling point? okay then, wait about 5 minutes and turn the heat off.
You can now add some salt to taste.
Let the sauce stand for a few minutes and after that, it'll be ready to use !

Sorry, i know that's a crappy picture, but my camera's auto-focus is broken or something, besides, i'm not a very talented food photographer as you obviously can see, hah : ( !
Anyway...remember, my pictures may be hideous, but my recipes are not ; ) !

[veganized] traditional mexican food, woahhhh ; ) !

2009-04-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hello.
Let me introduce myself.

My name is Andrea, i was born south the border (Tijuana, Baja California. to be specific) and i love to cook.
I created this blog because of all those crappy chain restaurants claiming to sell mexican food; i want to show you how mexican food really is, by uploading some basic recipes (such as: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chilaquiles, tortas...and many many more) prepared the traditional or most common way as possible.
I am no vegan myself (i'm doing my best to keep dairy out of my diet; that FYH 'cheese' is making me think about making the switch from lacto-veg to vegan n_n), but I'll try to veganize every mexican recipe i can, for all those vegan folks out there that dig spicy food : )

If you want me to veganize a mexican food recipe
you can send it in here ; ) --> darth.lorr@gmail.com (or just say hello, if you like)