Smoky Fiesta Black Bean Tamales & gym etiquette

This weekend I made my very first batch of tamales EVER and VEGAN tamales at that! I have always heard horror stores about how long the process is to make tamales, so it's something I had never dared to try before, but dang, this recipe looked pretty easy.  Next time I will be TRIPLING this recipe and freezing these babies UP! They did not last long at our house and were amazing with a little fire roasted salsa on top.  When shopping for the corn husk you should be able to find them with the salsa and Mexican spices (when not in season).  I bought mine at Wal-Mart and they worked out great.  One change I made, I did not add carrot, but corn instead.  You could really play around with the ingredients on this one and the spices.  All I can say is, "OMG, these were AMAZING!!" Normally I am not much of a tamale lover, but these had SO much flavor!!

Smoky Fiesta Black Bean Tamales

From: The Vegan Husband

Ingredients

2 cups masa harina

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 sweet onion, diced small

1 large carrot, diced small

1 red bell pepper, diced small

1 can diced green chiles or 1 Anaheim pepper, diced

2 minced garlic cloves

1 T. baking powder

1 1/2 t. sea salt

1 T. nutritional yeast

1-2 t. liquid smoke (depending on your preference)

1 t. red chili flakes

1 t. mesquite powder (optional)

1 C. cashews (soaked for 4-6 hours if you don’t have a power blender)

1 1/4 C. water

20 dried corn husks

Method: Place the corn husks in a large bowl of hot water. Cover with a plate so that the husks stay submerged. Next, make cashew cream, combine cashews and liquid smoke with the water and blend until completely smooth. Set aside.

 

Heat a non-stick sauté pan over medium heat, add onion, carrot, black beans, bell pepper and Anaheim peppers (if using). I used a dry pan (you may need to add a bit of broth or water to your pan if it starts to stick) and stirred occasionally until the onions were translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic cloves and red chili flakes and heat for a minute or two more. Set aside.

 

In a medium bowl, combine masa harina, baking powder, sea salt, mesquite powder and nutritional yeast with a wire whisk. Add the vegetables (including the canned green chilies) to the masa harina and stir to evenly distribute. Now add the cashew cream and mix all to combine a nice moist dough. If dough seems too dry, add water a Tablespoon at a time.

 

Using a 1/3 cup measure, scoop the tamale dough onto a corn husk. Roll up tightly like a burrito, tucking in the ends as you go. My batch made 15 tamales, but a few of my corn husks were small, so I needed to use 2 husks to get it to roll up properly (which is why I included 20 husks).

 

Next, put a steaming basket inside a large lidded pot, add water, making sure the water doesn’t rise above the bottom of the steaming basket. Heat on stove until water is boiling. Add the tamales carefully to the steaming basket so they don’t unravel. Reduce heat to medium-low and steam, with the pot lid on, for 45-50 minutes.

 

Tamales are ready when the dough is firm and holds together. Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

 

Tonight for dinner I will be cooking up some tofu quinoa lettuce wraps!  Can't wait!! I was a good redhead last night and made it to the gym, thanks to my son and his friend who wanted to go as well.  Had an interesting situation - I go to get onto a treadmill and the lady next to me said her husband was using that one.  Not that I saw him anywhere near, but okay.  I go to get on the treadmill on the other side of her, at that time she got off to do who knows what, she comes back and tries to tell me her daughter is using that one.  What?!? Then she tells me never mind.  Now, it's around 5pm and the after work rush is hitting, I'm thinking HOW MANY TREADMILLS DO YOU NEED TO SAVE?!?  LOL!  I'm still pretty emotional right now and she was lucky I didn't open a can of whoop a$$ on her!  LOL!  Is there proper gym etiquette??  I found Mastering Gym Etiquette for Dummies, but didn't see anything regarding the treadmill.  Hummmm....they need to think about updating that!

 

Make it a healthy Tuesday!