Since Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow I figured I would share a Mexican style recipe for you all! I love Mexican food, tacos, enchiladas, burritos, tequila, oh my! Its all so good and also so easy to make vegan, at home or out at a restaurant. The age old argument, but cheese? I love cheese. Yes, I loved cheese too but after going vegan I realized the havoc it was wrecking on my body and am SO HAPPY I do not eat dairy cheese anymore. With that being said there are very easy ways to make your own cheese at home and some pretty good ones you can buy at the store too!For this recipe I will be using one of my favorite recipes for making cheese at home. Lets get into the recipe!

This recipe makes four chile rellenos.

Mozzarella Style Cheese (Inspired by Vegan Richa)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours or overnight
• 2/3 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 teaspoon tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot starch
• 1/4 teaspoon agar powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 2-3 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

1.  Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until super smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into a pan and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently so it does not burn.
3. Once the mixture has thickened a lot and is starting to leave the pan as you stir remove from heat and pour into a greased bread pan or other pan and even it out using a spatula.
4. Place the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until you are ready to use it. If leaving overnight or for more than an hour or so cover the pan with plastic wrap.

Poblanos

1. Place the four in the oven or toaster on broil until all sides are charred. About 10 minutes. Once all the sides are charred carefully put to poblanos in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 10-20 minutes.

Chile Rellenos

Ingredients

• Mozzarella Cheese (recipe above) or you could use store bought if you wanted
• Poblanos
• Breading:
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon each: salt, black pepper
• Breading Wet: (this needs to thicken for about 5 minutes)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1.5 tablespoons flaxmeal
  • 1/4 teaspoon each: garlic powder, salt, smoked paprika
• Breading Dry:
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (make sure they are vegan, some brands are not!)
  • 1/4 teaspoon each: salt, black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Set up breading stations. In three bowls place the ingredients for each part of the assembly. (one for flour, one for breading wet and one for breading dry)
3.  Take the chiles out of the covered bowl and carefully peel the skin off. Make a small slit from the top of the chiles about half way down and remove the seeds carefully.
4. Remove the mozzarella cheese from the pan and cut into 1/4 thick slices the length of the chiles. Stuff the mozzarella into the chiles using the slit you already cut. Do this carefully the chiles will be fragile!
5.  Take each chile and bring it through the breading assembly line. Place in the flour to coat then the wet mixture and finally the bread crumb mixture
6. Place the coasted chiles on a sheet pan and then into the oven for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway through! Once they are crispy they are done!

Refried Beans

Ingredients

• Half a yellow onion rough chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic rough chopped
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 15 oz can low sodium pinto beans(you are using the whole can here so you dont want extra salt- I can my own beans, I could share how I do that if that’s something you all would be interested it!)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon smoked salt (or liquid smoke)
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat (I love my cast iron skillet for this) once the oil is hot add the onion and garlic stir until the onion is soft, about 5-7 minutes)
2. Add the paprika and the whole can of beans and stir to combine add 1/4 teaspoon of smoked salt and let the liquid reduce to half, 10 minutes or so.
3. Using a food processor add the ingredients from the pan in and pulse until desired consistancy, we like them mostly smooth. Add more smoked salt as needed.

Assembly

Place some refried beans, a chile relleno, sprinke on some chopped cilantro if you fancy and any sauce or salsa you want on the plate and devour! I make my own salsa to serve with this and have a recipe for that but this post is already super long so I will share that one another time. Let me know how you like this recipe if you make it! Have an awesome Cinco de Mayo and drink some tequila for me! =)

Kristen