June 30th, 2009
Why have I not been cooking traditional Mexican before? Like all peasant foods it is pretty much ready made for vegans, and also happens to be delicious. I love rice and beans, and after this weekend discovered I love properly made fresh corn tortillas too. Add salsa and guacamole and the potential for endless variations in saucing and spicing and you have one happy plant eater! I picked up a good cookbook and today am venturing forth in search of a tortilla press and some masa harina.
Last night I made steamed flour tortillas dipped in a seared tomato and jalapeno sauce, wrapped around some long simmered pinto beans, then covered in more sauce, chopped white onion, pickled jalapeno slivers and cilantro sprigs – Husband declared it “a knockout meal.” I agree!
Also, as part of a quick hash I made for lunch yesterday (hash is what I call any stewy dish with a tomato base plus whatever veggies I have kicking around), I used some corn on the cob. I boiled it briefly and then cut it off the cob (tip: cutting raw corn off the cob results in a horrific spray of corn milk everywhere, but if it’s been boiled a few minutes first this doesn’t happen), tossed it in the hash, and discovered – shock! – that fresh corn off the cob is vastly superior to the frozen stuff I’ve been using for years. It was sweet and firm/bursty. I am officially crossing frozen corn off my “okay to use” list whenever real corn is in season.
And, annoyance: I went to the fancy upscale grocery store downtown (Urban Fare) in search of vegan cheese, and while they had a few soy cheeses, all of them contain casein. Casein is a dairy protein and comes from cows, making soy cheese ethically/dietary-restrictionally equivalent to regular cheese. Except it tastes much worse and doesn’t melt. If you’re going to eat soy cheese with casein you might as well just eat the good (real) stuff. I don’t even know why they make that stupid soy-casein stuff. Anyway, there is a good brand of vegan cheese (it even melts!) called Follow Your Heart, but Urban Fare doesn’t carry it. Fuck!