Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers (26 page)

1 (8-ounce) cake tempeh

 

⅓ cup light-colored Mexican beer or
vegetable broth
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely grated
½ rounded teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano,
crumbled by rubbing between your
palms (releases flavor and eliminates
any coarse leaves)

 

1. Slice the entire tempeh cake in half lengthwise, then slice it into thirds. From here, you can either slice each third on a diagonal to form triangles (good if serving as an entrée) or leave as rectangles for use in sandwiches or tacos. Steam the tempeh in either a steamer basket, a covered saucepan with 1 cup of water over high heat, or a microwave as directed above. Be sure to drain it of any excess water before adding to marinade.

2. In a square pan or glass baking dish, whisk all of the marinade ingredients together. Add the tempeh and flip each piece over a few times to help it absorb the marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. While this is going on, you can heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium high heat. If pan-frying the tempeh, generously oil the pan with peanut oil or high-smoking-point canola oil. Using metal tongs, place the pieces of tempeh onto your grill or pan, taking care not to crowd the pan. Brush with some of the extra marinade. Grill on each side for 3 to 4 minutes, flip and keep brushing with marinade, using up the rest of the marinade on the tempeh as it cooks. Tempeh should not cook for more than 6 to 7 minutes total, or it may become too dry.

3. Serve the hot tempeh immediately. To serve in tacos, cut the tempeh into squares as directed above, grill, and coarsely chop the hot tempeh into bite-size bits. Serve in soft corn tortillas with sliced radishes, chopped cabbage, salsa, and a sprinkle of lime juice.

•
Serves 2 to 4

•
Time: Less than 30 minutes

 

1 (8-ounce) cake tempeh

 

½ cup vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
1 heaping tablespoon
ají amarillo
paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt

 

1. Slice the entire tempeh cake in half lengthwise, then slice it into thirds. From here, you can either slice each third on a diagonal to form triangles (good if serving as an entrée) or leave as rectangles for use in sandwiches or tacos. Steam the tempeh in either a steamer basket, a covered saucepan with 1 cup of water, or a microwave as directed above. Be sure to drain of any excess water before adding to marinade.

2. In a square pan or glass baking dish, whisk all the marinade ingredients together. Add the tempeh and flip each piece over a few times to help it absorb the marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. While this is going on, you can heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat. If pan-frying the tempeh, generously oil the pan with peanut or high-smoking-point canola oil.

3. Using metal tongs, place the pieces of tempeh on your grill or pan, taking care not to crowd the pan. Brush with some of the extra marinade. Grill on each side for 3 to 4 minutes, flip and keep brushing with the marinade, using up the rest of the marinade on the tempeh as it cooks. The tempeh should not cook for more than 6 to 7 minutes total, or it may become too dry. Serve the hot tempeh immediately.

•
Serves 2 to 4

•
Time: Less than 30 minutes, not including making Basic Onion-Pepper Sofrito

 

1 (8-ounce) cake of tempeh
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Vegetable oil, for pan-frying
½ cup Basic Onion-Pepper Sofrito
(page 32)
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup white wine, vegetable broth,
or beer
Olive oil, for pan-frying

 

1. Slice the entire tempeh cake in half lengthwise, then slice it into thirds. Steam the tempeh in either a steamer basket, a covered saucepan with 1 cup of water, or a microwave as directed above. Be sure to drain of any excess water before adding to marinade. Place in a square pan or glass baking dish and sprinkle both sides of the tempeh with the soy sauce.

2. Generously oil a cast-iron pan with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add half of the tempeh and pan-fry for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping frequently until golden. Slide the tempeh onto a plate. Fry the remaining tempeh, adding more oil as necessary, and remove from the pan. Add the
sofrito
, tomatoes, wine vinegar, cilantro, and cumin and fry until the tomatoes are soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tempeh and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the wine over the tempeh and fry for another 5 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed but the tempeh is still saucy. Serve immediately.

•
Makes 1 serving per plantain

•
Time: 20 minutes or less

•
Gluten Free, Soy Free

 

Ripe plantains (1 plantain per serving)
Vegetable oil for frying, such as canola
or a blend
Lime juice or salt (optional)

 

1. When those plantains are ready and ripe, generously pour enough oil into a cast-iron or large nonstick skillet to cover the bottom by ¼ inch and preheat over medium-high heat. The idea is to pan-fry—not deep-fry—the plantains. On a cutting board, slice both ends off a plantain and use a sharp paring knife to slice a shallow cut—just deep enough to slice through the skin only—from one end of the plantain to the other. Use your thumbs to peel off the skin, working your nail under the peel. This should be considerably easier than removing the skin from a green plantain. If the plantain is insanely ripe it may be very mushy, but that’s okay; just gently remove the peel and place the flesh on the cutting board.

2. There are many options for slicing up a
plátano maduro
for frying; try a few to see which suits your entrée or meal best.

• Slice diagonally on a 45-degree angle into 1- to 1½-inch-thick slices for easy-to-fry
plátanos
.

• Or, slice the entire plantain horizontally into two long pieces for a long, plantain shape that looks great along the edges of dinner plate. 

 

How to Ripen a Plantain

 

T
he most important part of this recipe is to first make sure your plantains are really ripe. Many Latin markets sell both green (unripe) and yellow-black (ripe) plantains; occasionally ripe ones are priced slightly higher. Although these “ripe” plantains may have yellow peels, sometimes they are not quite ready for properly made
maduros
. A really fry-worthy ripe plantain should have a primarily black peel and feel soft when gently pressed. It should still look fairly plump and not withered.

 

If your plantain seems too firm, let it sit for one to three more days to get really ripe. The ripening trick of putting it in a paper bag (fold the top) can be helpful for speeding up the process. I often buy a bunch of plantains both green and “ripe” to have them ready for different stages of frying when needed. The great thing about plantains is that even if you forget about them for a week (or two), chances are they haven’t gone rotten . . . they’ve only gotten better! That blackened fruit at the bottom of your fruit bowl has potential!

 

 

• Or, slice in half, then slice each
plátano
again in half, horizontally.