Fiesta Vegan

Albuquerque-area resident and vegetarian cookbook author Nanette Blanchard used to write for me in the early days when I was the editor of Chile Pepper magazine.  She has self-published a booklet of her favorite southwestern plant-based recipes. Fiesta Vegan: 30 Delicious Recipes from New Mexico contains her take on traditional recipes such as Posole, Calabacitas, Sangria, and Capirotada. Each of the recipes includes a color photo and a nutritional analysis. Fiesta Vegan also offers a list of online sources for specialty ingredients and recommendations for New Mexico stops for food-lovers. The 40 page booklet is available either in print or as a .PDF download. You can also find a Kindle version without photos, here.  Information on all the booklet versions is on her web site, here.  Nanette also maintains a food blog, Cooking in Color, here.

Avocado and Corn Tostadas with Spicy Chile Sauce

If you can’t find prepared tostada shells you can simply serve this recipe on top of your favorite brand of tortilla chips. The Spicy Chile Sauce is also a great accompaniment to your favorite scrambled tofu
recipe.

Serves 4

Spicy Chile Sauce:

2 (8 oz.) cans no-salt-added tomato sauce
½ c. water
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
2 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
2 tsp. pequin chile flakes or any crushed hot red pepper flakes
¼  tsp. sea salt or to taste

To make Spicy Chile Sauce: Put all ingredients in saucepan and cook over medium/low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until thick and the flavors have all blended.

8 tostada shells
3 c. shredded Romaine lettuce
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 avocados, sliced
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
2 Tbsp. pickled jalapeño rings
¼ c. sliced black olives
Fresh  lime slices for garnish

To assemble tostadas, place 2 tostadas per person on plate. Add ¼ of the Romaine and pinto beans.
Top each with about 1/3 c. of the Spicy Chile Sauce and top with avocados, corn, jalapenos and black
olives. Garnish with fresh lime slices.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 1036 Calories; 30g Fat (37.7% calories from fat); 17g Protein; 95g Carbohydrate; 18g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 503mg Sodium.

For great spicy recipes, click the image above!