Mama’s Hot Tamales Cafe!

Mama's Hot Tamales!

And one fantastic vegan tamale this is! I visited Mama’s Cafe  today and just quickly ran in to grab some tamales because I vaguely remembered they had vegan options. I thought, well if they don’t I’ll grab a drink and be on my way. The extremely nice and polite young gentleman informed me that they had one vegan tamale option today. After some small talk about veganism and his assurance that my tamales were indeed vegan I was off. When I arrived home I looked online to be extra sure my tamales were vegan and was very pleasantly surprised as to the info I found online. This place is very vegan friendly (check out their menu!) and is part of a community revitalization project and they help train people and…go check out their website for more info because all of the good things they are doing is just too long to list here! I definitely will be going back to try out more of their food. The tamale is black bean and chile and was wrapped in a banana leaf. Their sauce was mildly hot but complimented the tamale very nicely. I’m surprised I even got a good piture before I ate it up. If you are ever in the area, actually drive there if you live in LA, please go patronize this very vegan friendly establishment with vegan tamales!

Advertisement

Vegan Fudge!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

I’ve never made any type of candy before and this was relatively easy to make and the results, well…I think I need I hide it from myself! The recipe is from the Joy of Vegan Baking. The recipe instructions were a bit nebulous as far as how long to cook it etc. but it turned out fine. I added the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter as suggested but I think next time (oh there will definitely be a next time!) I will add more peanut butter because the flavor got kind of lost.

Fudge!

If you have a sweet tooth and have never tried to make fudge, I highly recommend this recipe!

Springtime calls for Lemon Cupcakes

To mark the start of spring, among other things, I decided to make lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting. The cupcake recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance  and the frosting is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

The liners are from Wilton and they are called “Fuzzy Bunny“! Here’s another shot:

Lemon Cupcakes

The gf piped the frosting in a zigzag pattern and it turned out awesome (I was feeling lazy and actually let her help for the first time!). Did I say how much I liked these liners…

Fuzzy Bunny Liners

Oh, and we actually did eat some food today aside from the cupcakes 🙂 I made breakfast potatoes (onions, garlic, and rosemary) and Tofu Scramble (Vegan With A Vengeance) with Field Roast Apple Sage Sausages. I tried to make the Hollandaise sauce from Vegan Yum Yum – the taste was great but the consistency was a bit off. I think it was that I couldn’t seem to get my almonds ground up enough in the food processor. 

Tofu Scramble with Hollandaise

Overall a great vegan food day!

Vegan Latina Tester Recipes Tease!

So I am a recipe tester for Terry Hope Romero’s  upcoming Vegan Latina cookbook. This is my first time being a tester and I feel very fortunate to try out new recipes and especially because they are Latin recipes. I am Cuban and am accustomed to eating lots of Latin food so veganized old favorites is just well, fantastic. So far everything I have tried has been great – I can’t wait for the book to come out! Here are some teaser photos, enjoy!

Pupusas

Yeah, that’s right, homemade pupusas! Aren’t they pretty and oh sooo tasty!

Yellow Rice with Garlic

This yellow rice gets its color from annatto infused oil.

Arroz con Gandules

Arroz con Gandules is a traditional Puerto Rican dish and this veganized version rivals any I’ve ever had.

Pickled Red Onions

Very addictive condiment that has a beautiful color.

Pine Nut Crema

I can’t stop eating this stuff – its like a Latin hummous when served cold and sets up up like cheese when baked! 

Chile Relleno with Pine Nut Crema

Hopefully the pics speak for themselves! Stay tuned for more yummy Latin food!

Just Watch This…