Sunday, March 1, 2009

Black bean and kale empanadas with ancho chili

I'm back on a clean out the pantry kick for the month of March, so today's ingredient is a dried ancho chili. Empanadas are a savory Mexican pie and are at least something different than my usual ninjadilla.

I used the empanada dough recipe from the Veganomicon. The filling is black beans, kale, one dried ancho chili, a sweet potato, a potato, garlic, shallot, adobo seasoning, cumin, and lime juice.

You can buy adobo seasoning that usually has cumin in it. I don't always like cumin in my burrito so I make the blend without it and add it separately. You could also make it without the salt if you wish.

Adobo seasoning:
2 Tbs salt
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs black pepper
1 Tbs Espazote (or oregano)
1 tsp dried lemon peel
1 tsp cumin (optional)

I served the empanadas with chipotle vegenaise (veganaise mixed with a little chipotle powder) and some Zukay hot salsa. If you get the chance check out the Zukay salsas. They are fermented with all kinds of good for you probiotics and are super fresh tasting. It's like summer in a jar. Check out Joanna and Bianca's reviews on Zukay. I bought it from the website, but I have seen it in local health food stores.


10 comments:

Tara said...

Yum! Your empanadas look delicious! The combination of black beans and kale is a very good.
I'm trying to give up soda for good-I didn't realize it was lent!

Anonymous said...

wow Jenn that looks AWESOME!!!

Well done you!

yummmmmmy i love kale!

Gina said...

Oh my goodness, Jenn, those look fabulous!!

Sindy said...

oooh -those look so yummy! I wanted to make empanadas for my party, but didn't have the strength. I'll have to make these soon! Thanks for the adobo seasoning recipe- my mom hates cumin.

Bianca said...

Isn't Zukay the bestest?! And I wish you'd ship me some of those tasty-lookin' empanadas for lunch! I'm so lazy when it comes to things that involve dough-making.

Anonymous said...

mmm I love empanadas, yours look so good

Jen said...

nice. i like food in portable form.

For the Love of Guava said...

mm... I was a mayonnaise fan before I went vegan so it was hard to do the switch to vegannaise... I can definitely tell but my two general rules are (a) less is more and (b) if you dress it up a little it's delish! I'm always adding herbs and garlic to make pesto-ish spreads but that chipotle version looks delicious... with french fries dipped in it.. mm... how come every time i visit your blog i end up stuffing my face with potatoes??? :)

Karene said...

Ahhh 'tis the season of Spring cleaning! And what fabulous finds and happenings abound when we clean out our cupboards! NOm NOm NOm.....

LeAnne said...

RIGHT ON!!!