Vegan (or not) Tamale Dinner

We made this delicious meal out of random ingredients in the kitchen. It could be made a variety of ways, but this meal can be dairy, sugar, and gluten free.

We did add cheese to the tamale, as you can see in this picture. We didn't have any, but sour cream would also be a good addition.

What you are looking at is a green chile tamale, with the sweet corn salsa (see previous blog for recipe), "mexican" rice, and mixed vegetables.


Corn and Green Pepper Tamale:

I bought these, from a local company called Primavera:

http://www.primaveratamales.com/index.php

Somewhat expensive, but good.  If I were planning ahead I would make them myself (tamale blog to come).

I steamed the tamales while I made the rice and vegetables.

Vegtables:

Since I was using what we had around, the veggies are stir fried green beans, zucchini, fresh corn from the cob. I cooked them in coconut oil, and added a touch of Braggs Aminos.

Rice:

Dice one tomato and half an onion.  Fry in 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of Cumin. Add 2 cups water (two parts water to one part rice) bring to a boil and add 1 cup rice.   Keep at a boil, if water evaporates before rice is done add more water and bring to a boil.  This would also be good using one part water and one part chicken broth.

I generously heaped the sweet corn salsa over the tamale.  Add cheese or sour cream if you eat dairy.

Sweet Corn Salasa

This is a great tomalley topping, dip, or stand alone salad.  This recipe is sweet and not spicy.

Ingredients:

1 ear of raw corn
1 large tomato
1/2 sweet yellow onion
3 Tblsp fresh diced cilantro
2 cloves garlic
Salt to taste
Dash of lemon or lime juice

Dice all ingredients, shear corn off cob, and combine.

I used this as a tamale topping:

Chocolate Tapioca Pudding

This recipe is definitely for the maintenance stage.  If you buy the "Let's do Organic" instant tapioca, there's a recipe on the back made with coconut milk. I am sure it's good, but I haven't tried it yet.  What I made today is chocolate almond milk with xylitol. You could make this with any instant tapioca. (You could also use vanilla unsweetened almond milk for a more traditional pudding.)

Ingredients:

3 cups unsweetened chocolate almond milk
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup instant tapioca (the original says 1/4, but I like my pudding thick)
1 Tbsp or more Xylitol
1 tsp vanilla suspended in glycerin

In a saucepan, simmer almond milk, tapioca and salt for about 15 minutes. (Until the tapioca pieces expand and turn clear.) Remove from heat and stir in xylitol and vanilla. Refrigerate to room temperature.

By the way, for those of you who can have sugar, the "Let's do Organic" gummy bears wonderful.