tortas sin carne

usually, the combining of two great food groups turns out all gross/wonky, prizing concept or "cleverness" over actual taste. baked ziti on a pizza? um...no. apple pie translated into a cocktail? NO. bacon flavored lip balm? vomit! i know lip balm isn't technically a food, but, well, it almost is.

well, the torta - basically taco + sandwich (2 of the holiest food groups in my book) - does not fall prey to this silly fate. i often see very delicious sounding but very meat-ful tortas on mexican menus around the city, and never a vegan, or even vegetarian option crosses my little plate. so psyched i was, when perusing the september issue of food & wine, to see that not only was there an entire article about interesting sandwiches, but a mexican torta was included! no matter how difficult, i was going to veganize that sucker...veganize it straight to hell.

this recipe was from the much loved rick bayless, from his new "street food"-centric restaurant in chicago, xoco, and he says it's meant to show people another side of mexico besides tacos. i accept yr challenge sir rick: BRING IT ON!

the recipe:
Mexican Tortas with Black Beans, Vegan Goat Cheese and Vegan Chorizo
adapted from Food & Wine magazine, Sept 2009 issue
makes 4 tortas

1 tsp vegetable oil for brushing the sammy rolls
1 order/0.5 pound of vegan chorizo (i made the TVP-based recipe from vegan with a vengeance)
1 15 oz. cans of drained, rinsed black beans
4 long hoagie rolls, i used portugese rolls from the supermarket - sooooo good
4 ounces vegan goat cheese (recipe to follow)
1 ripe avocado
shredded lettuce
lil tomatoes
pickled (or fresh if you're feeling wild) jalapenos
sprigs of fresh cilantro

vegan goat cheese (i made this up!):
1/2 cup almond or cashews, soaked in warm water for at least 15 minutes
1/3 block of mori nu firm tofu
6 fat green olives, pitted
olive oil
1 lemon
apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

- first, make the vegan cheese so you can let it chill for as long as possible. basically, throw the first three ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well mixed and thick. add a teaspoon or so of the olive oil, approx. 1/2 the lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest, and pulse some more. add a pinch of salt and pepper, and a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar if it's not sour enough for your taste. it should have a dense, chees-y texture. i didn't add anything else, since the tortas were going to have so much flavor, but if you're using this for another purpose, basil, sun dried tomatoes or black olives mixed in could be good. scrape out of the processor and into a small dish or ramekin. let it "set" in the fridge for as long as possible.

- if your chorizo is from another day, reheat it in a skillet. if you just made the chorizo, keep it warm over a low flame.

- add the black beans to the chorizo, and mash them with a potato masher until creamy. season with s&p, and cover to keep it warm.

- prep the sandwich fixins.


- cut the hoagie rolls in half, and pull out some of the bread from the inside to create a small cavity. brush the cut sides of each roll with vegetable oil and put the rolls, cut side down, on a skillet or griddle over a medium flame, and cook until toasted, about 2 minutes. turn and cook the tops for just a minute.


- spread the top of the hoagie roll with the gauxt cheese, and spread the bottoms with the delicious chorizo and black bean mixture.

- add the avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro and jalapenos.


served with a some chips and homemade roasted carrot salsa on the side:


party time! excellent!!

love,
emily

soup of the summer

food trends are funny. like, why every so often - and all at the same time - do a bunch of magazines and websites start yapping about red sea salt, dulce de leche, or some piece of the pig everyone forgot about? does a grand gourmand from on high decree, "this will be the spring of garlic scapes," or "the summer of chervil?" more and more, it's as if the modern gourmet culture mimics the fickle nature of the fashion industry. and even though i know the fashion industry is a heap of tripe, meant to keep wealthy people spending, i kind of love it. same goes, probably without saying, for the food industry.

so earlier this summer, as i thumbed through glossies, passing by countless "five things to do with fresh tomatoes" articles (crazy right? like: slice, salt, pepper, eat, done.) and food porn centerfolds of sticky, juicy, BBQ, i noticed a trend emerging. white gazpacho - a chilled soup made with soggy bread, almonds, green grapes and cucumbers - was everywhere, from the new york times to vegetarian times to even oprah, matron to the masses. word has it, when oprah announces a trend or endorses a product, it truly has blown up. so it seems for white gazpacho, a slightly unsettling dish at first thought. i mean, to many diners, cold soup is already a bit of a hard sell, and usually what does sell it is vibrant, beautiful color and velvety texture. white gazpacho flaunts neither of these qualities, and furthermore, must live up to the superstar name of Gazpacho that it bears. i kind of just rolled my eyes and decided to let it past.

however, imagine my surprise when i stumbled across yet another white gazpacho recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, hot knives. if you haven't perused its virtual pages yet, i strongly suggest you put an hour aside and immerse yourself in this blog. the LA authors, evan and alex, have an easy, witty writing style, vegetarian diets, super creative ideas, and beer & music pairings for all of their recipes (cheese & music pairings for the beers they sample and review). what's not to love?

so now more intrigued than ever, i decided to bite the bullet. lauren and i had just been given a big ass bag of almonds from our mom (almonds feature heavily in this gazpacho and man, are they expensive), i bought some green grapes which i'd ordinarily never do, fired up the food processor and gave the soup of the summer a whirl.

no need to copy the whole recipe here, and let's give credit where it's due:
Grape Chowder on Hot Knives

i may have skimped a bit on the cucumber, and certainly did not let it chill for as long as suggested, but overall the outcome was good. while slightly gritty in texture and confusing in taste, it was not unpleasant either. in fact, it was a rich-but-still-refreshing little number that made a sophisticated starter for the tacos that followed. you know, i may even make it again next summer, after all the hype has died down, and the fanatical foodies are on to the next thing.

white gazpacho - the food equivalent of gladiator sandals?

tacos! lately i cannot get enough mexican food

the tacos that followed were standard, but awesome. i'm glad the soup wasn't the only dish, as it was not hearty enough to count as dinner. the tacos filling was simply fried spicy tofu, black beans, homemade salsa, avocado and cilantro. two slightly fancy details were a splash of tequila in the salsa, and the addition of day old coffee to the black beans as they simmered. who knows, maybe "caffeinated beans," will be 2010's next hot thing.

love,
emily