Monday, May 7, 2012

Cinco de Mayo Dinner

As a California girl who loves Mexican food, I decided to make a Cinco de Mayo inspired Shabbat meal since it was Cinco de Mayo.

We had a vegan Hot Tamale Pie as the main.  We like spicy so I added in finely chopped fresh hot pepper.  In my opinion this recipe needs the extra spice and could use more cumin, chili powder and salt.  As always I used dried beans instead of canned, just soak the beans for as long as you can, preferably over night) and then boil in water until soft but not mushy.  Adding some spices in while the beans are cooking could add an extra flavor too!

To make a full protein we had green rice (arroz verde) loosely based on this recipe and using brown rice instead of white.

There was of course one of my favorites, homemade salsa (pico de gallo)!

And for dessert we had Chayim Cupcakes Mexican-Style!

OLE!!

Chayim Cupcakes



These Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes are amazing and are known in our family as Chayim cupcakes because it has become a tradition to make them for Chayim's Birthday!

The frosting is super easy and healthy!
In a small mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup techina, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and enough agave nectar to make the techina sweet and a creamy smooth consistency.  Add in 3/4 cup or more to taste of unsweetened cocoa powder and a dash of salt.  Mix well.  Then slowly add in small amounts of water till the mixture becomes smooth creamy frosting.


 Alternatives:
If you want to make the cupcakes chocolate then just add in 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.

If you like cinnamon add in 1/2 -1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients.

For Mexican-Style add in 2-21/2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the dry ingredients and add chili powder (to taste) to the techina frosting for a bit of a kick!