Salsa de Chile de Árbol

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

"Huevo" con chorizo

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 ; )

Champiñones al Ajillo

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.