Pumpkin Seeds and Green Chili Sauce with Black Bean Tamale Pie (serves 6)
Still three days away from my Beatles’ birthday and going vegan is still going strong. Wish the rest of life were this accommodating. Today was just one of those days. I ended up working from home because the snow plows had created a 6 foot glacier at the end of our driveway, and when Will had nearly cleared a path to the car for me, Rudy, our Schnoodle (who has had just about enough of snow twice as deep as he is) left a very generous gift on the living room carpet for me to walk through. Anyway…
This seemed like a good day for something from a warmer climate. Last night we had black bean and potato soup, which was really very good. So I thought we might have bean tamales tonight. But, since I couldn’t get out to the market to find corn husks, and I wasn’t so sure about the technique required for using parchment paper, I decided to steam the whole dish. The result was a tamale pie which was really very good, and a pumpkin and green chili sauce which was Excellent!
The sauce would work well with any number of vegetable or grain dishes.
Pumpkin & Green Chili Sauce with Black Bean Tamale Pie (serves 6)
Filling:
½ recipe Vegan Black Bean and Potato Soup*
Or 2 c. of your favorite thick chili
*(Should be thick. If not drain some of the liquid or mash the beans to thicken)
Dough:
2 c. cornmeal
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
¼ c. vegetable oil
1 to 1 ½ c. water
Combine the cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the oil. Slowly add the water stirring to form a soft dough.
Spread ½ the dough in an oiled pie pan. Spoon the black bean mixture over the dough. Drop the remaining dough by spoonful over the beans. Using the back of the spoon, smooth the cornmeal mixture to cover the beans.
Tightly seal the pie pan with aluminum foil. Place the pie pan into a larger pan or baking dish. Add boiling water to a depth of halfway up the side of the pie pan.
Bake/Steam in a slow (275 F.) oven for up to two hours, adding more water as necessary to keep the pie steaming.
Remove from the oven, and let rest for 5-10 minutes before uncovering and slicing. Serve with Pumpkin Seed Sauce, and garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin Seed Sauce
½ c toasted pumpkin seeds
½ c finely diced onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 4oz. can diced green chilis
¼ c sliced black olives
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 c. water
1 tsp. hot chili powder
½ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. salt
Dash red pepper flakes
Toast the pumpkin seeds at 325 for 10-12 minutes. Cool. Reserve 2 tbsp. of the toasted seeds and grind the remainder.
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent.
Add the green chilis, tomato paste, and water. Stir to combine.
Add the olives, chili powder, cumin, salt and red pepper. Bring to a simmer.
Transfer the contents to a blender and puree.
Stir in the reserved pumpkin seeds and keep warm.
All Good Gifts 