Well imagine how much harder that gets when you give up meat. I've made some pretty great black bean & corn enchilada's recently, but we had been craving Carne Guisada. If you don't know what Carne Guisada is, or haven't ever eaten it, it's a traditional Mexican dish of beef tips stewed in a savory gravy. It's delish with avocado on top of a flour tortilla. I scoured the internet for a "vegan carne guisada" recipe, but couldn't find anything I was enthusiastic about. I mainly was faced with the question of what do I use as a meat replacement?
So that came first, I used Isa Chandra's simple Italian sausages as my meat base. (Picture below) I steamed them in my rice cooker for about an hour, and was pretty pleased with them. Sausage is one of the things I have had the most cravings for after giving up meat (weird when you think about what a disgusting product sausage really is..) But a lot of the Vegan sausages on the grocery store shelves have disappointed me.
source: theppk.com
So I tweaked a Carne Guisada recipe I had used when I was a carnivore (hehe) and came out with a pretty great result. The husband was thrilled, (like really excited) even though it was missing meat! These sausages can be used in stews, soups, and even Carne Guisada. Read below for the recipe.
*Note: you should be comfortable with the flavor of Seitan and meat substitutes to enjoy this dish. Or at least open to trying it!
Vegan "Carne" Guisada (adapted from a recipe in Everyday Food mag)
ingredients:
-2 of Isa Chandra's Vegan Sausages, or store bought vegan sausages/Gardein Beefless beeftips
-1/8 tsp of salt, and more to taste
-pepper to taste
-2 tablespoons oil of your choice (I used canola)
-1/2 medium white onion, diced
-1 medium green bell pepper, seeded, top removed, and diced
-1 large jalepeno, seeded and diced small
-5 garlic cloves, minced
-1.5 tsp ground cumin (comino)
-1 tsp chili powder
-3/4 tsp dried oregano
-3 tbs all purpose flour
-1 & 1/4 cups "no chicken" chicken broth, (or vegetable broth if you can't find it)
-1 14oz cans diced tomatoes, (onion & garlic flavor if you can find it.)
-2 bay leaves
-flour tortilla's, warmed up (or whole wheat if you wanna be healthy!)
-avocado for topping
Instructions:
1. Dice all vegetables
2. Using oil, saute bell pepper, jalepeno, onion, and garlic until soft. About 5 mins
3. Add spices and flour, and simmer for one minute. (It will not blend in right away, it's normal for the flour to be a bit stiff.)
4. Slowly pour broth into skillet, scraping bits off the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes and bay leaves, along with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cover and cook for 1 hour on low to medium heat.
6. Serve in tortilla's with avocado on top (if that's your thing.)
Enjoy! We served ours up with home made rice and beans, and fresh avocado on the side. Yum!
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I feel good knowing that one of the tougher Mexican dishes can be made Vegan. I am thinking of making this with potatoes instead of the vegan sausages. It would be "papa's guisada" I suppose :) More Vegetarian Mexican food to come!
XoXo
Ash
