Cookbook challenge: Guatita and enchiladas

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This week of the cookbook challenge had been one I’d been looking forward to for a long time- Viva Vegan week! I’ve loved Terry‘s recipes for a long time, and this book of Latin American delicacies is her at her absolute finest. I’ve yet to make anything from Viva Vegan that I haven’t loved.

The only downside is that a lot of the recipes are more involved than others I’ve been using recently, and don’t lend themselves well to weeknight cooking, particularly when I’ve been stuck at work late as I have a few times this week. The end results are of course completely worth the effort, so never fear- I have managed to put together a couple of meals. On the plus side, the recipes in Viva Vegan tend to make enough to feed an extended Mexican family, meaning that I have the most impressive and delicious lunches in my office.

The first recipe for the week was one that I’d been wanting to try since first buying the book.

Guatita with arroz con coco

Guatita is a traditional peanut-based stew common in Ecuador and Chile, which usually features tripe as its main component. This more palatable (not just to vegans, I’m sure) version contains potatoes, chickpeas and seitan… and a whole lot of deliciousness. I can never pass up a recipe for coconut rice, so I paired it with arroz con coco, which proved to be an excellent choice. This is probably my favourite coconut rice recipe yet. This will be going right into my winter recipe rotation, when I want something filling and satisfying, and enough to feed me for days to come.

While this worked well for a weeknight, by the time the weekend rolled around I was ready to dive into one of the more complicated recipes. With visions of enchiladas dancing in my head, we woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to hunt down some tomatillos at the early morning farmer’s market north of the city. Alas, it just wasn’t our day, and we came away empty handed… except for some bread and a giant tub of hommus (both of which were devoured in the car). Luckily, however, I later came across a forgotten can of tomatillos in the back of the pantry, and enchiladas and I were soon to be together.

Coriander lime rice and potato-chickpea enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce

Using tinned tomatillos meant a few changes to the recipe, mainly to cut down on the liquids added to the sauce since tinned tomatillos tend to retain a lot of the water that they come packed in.  These came out well despite the changes- much tastier than they look. Judging by Chadwiko’s happy eating noises and his immediate claim to ownership of the leftovers on my plate, these were a favourite. I served these with coriander lime rice, which was a light and subtle accompaniment to the hearty enchiladas.

These two recipes have definitely done a lot towards pushing Viva Vegan towards the top of my favourite cookbook list. I’m hoping to push into next week slightly and put together one more Viva Vegan meal, so keep an eye out for that… and maybe, just maybe, a few more pie previews too.

3 Comment(s)

  1. I love Viva Vegan & I’ve been meaning to make that peanut stew for so long, yours looks delicious.

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    Jojo | Mar 21, 2011 | Reply

  2. I love Viva Vegan, but I haven’t branched out far beyond the refried beans, garlic rice, and seitan recipes. The guatita sounds absolutely spectacular!

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    Katie Rose | Mar 23, 2011 | Reply

  3. I’m the opposite, I go straight for the big, complicated recipes! I need to try the refried beans, they sound like the perfect comfort food.

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    Erinwiko | Mar 24, 2011 | Reply

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