Pupusas with Curtido

I made coleslaw this week, and the leftover coleslaw and my leftover homemade black beans were the perfect excuse to make pupusas. I've posted a photo of pupusas in the past already, but this time I wanted to share my tips and a recipe I like better. Also I wanted to clarify for those of you who may not know that pupusas are a dish from El Salvador. I became familiar with them upon visiting the Adams Morgan area of Washington, DC, where there are several great pupuserias.

There are many recipes on the web, even videos on You Tube of the pupusa making process. But this recipe most closely resembles the process I use in making them. I will warn you though that the recipe will make a LOT of pupusas. So I make a half batch, and usually still get about ten of approximately 4 inch diameter. The corn masa that you need for this recipe is very important. I prefer Maseca Masa Harina, and I can find it at my local chain grocery stores as well as at Mexican specialty stores. Don't add all of the water at once when mixing the dough. Add the water little by little until the dough becomes the consistency as described in the recipe. As far as forming the pupusas, I don't pat out the dough with my hands. I have a tortilla press that I line with waxed paper, so it makes the process faster. Plus I like that it makes my dough quite thin. As far as the filling, you don't have to use the type of cheese that the recipe suggests, nor that quantity. I fill mine mainly with refried black beans, adding a dash of chopped cilantro and just a light sprinkle of shredded cheese. And you will notice that my pupusas are not nearly as yellow as most. That's because I don't fry them in oil. My cast iron skillet doesn't require much greasing, and I find that I still like them a lot without the extra added grease.

I have topped them with a mayonnaise-free coleslaw which is quite similar to curtido, a topping I find at the DC pupuserias. Sometimes they will also serve them with a mildly spicy tomato sauce.

Merienda with Hot Chocolate

Merienda is a late afternoon snack enjoyed in many Spanish influenced countries. In Yucatan, it is commonly eaten around 4pm and is often comprised of hot chocolate and bread or a pastry. Since we were eating a late dinner at a Spanish restaurant last night, yesterday afternoon we decided to partake in Merienda. We had hot chocolate with banana brownies , sweetened with some agave nectar instead of sugar, organic whole wheat flour, and natural yogurt instead of buttermilk. Lacto-ovo vegetarian.

This is the method we often use in making the hot chocolate. We heat soy milk until very hot, but not boiling, sometimes with a cinnamon stick. We put it in the blender (removing cinnamon stick first) with two squares of unsweetened South American chocolate. We add a few teaspoons of sweetener, this time turbinado sugar, and blend it in the blender. A twist we sometimes enjoy is to pour a shot of espresso into our cups of hot chocolate. Vegan.

Two Meals with Cabbage

I made a batch of pickled cabbage using a recipe in the Cafe Flora Cookbook. I added Mexican oregano to it as my own touch.

I used some of it in Tofu Reuben Sandwiches. They contain toasted multi grain bread, a slice of heated extra firm tofu (it comes in a package labeled grilled tofu), a slice of mozzarella, the cabbage, honey mustard and horseradish. Tasty! Lacto-vegetarian.

I was inspired by the Vegan Lunchbox to make Pupusas, something I love but can't get at any local restaurants. Pupusas are traditionally served with pickled cabbage (called curtido), so it was another great dish for my cabbage. It was delicious, even if the curtido was not exactly authentic. Inside my pupusas are refried black beans, cilantro and a touch of shredded asiagao cheese. If I were to make pickled cabbage/curtido with pupusas in mind before making the cabbage, I would next time try this recipe, as it is looks to be more like what I am used to eating with pupusas. Anyway, we salivated over them! Vegan.