Tag Archives: Mexican Wedding Cake Bites

August 12, 2011 · 1:30 pm

MEXICALI CHOP – With Crunchy Tortilla Strips

I came upon this recipe for Mexicali Chop Salad recently on Vegetarian Times website and thought I would share it with you.  This recipe is courtesy of Real Food Daily…a restaurant I have yet to try, but hope to soon!  I think this salad would make a wonderful meal paired with my Baja Corn Chowder and topped off with my Mexican Wedding Cake Bites.

Ann Gentry who is the chef-owner of Real Food Daily in the Los Angeles Area wrote this about her recipe, “When Real Food Daily first opened, I used to sneak away to a nearby Mexican-inspired restaurant for a black bean–and-corn salad with guacamole, chips, and a beer.  One day, I realized I could make my own version.”

Extra Dressing will keep for one week in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS – Serves 8

TORTILLA STRIPS

1 1/2 tsp. canola oil

3 6-inch corn tortillas

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. maple crystals or sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

 

DRESSING

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup lime juice

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Pinch cayenne pepper

 

SALAD

1 head romaine lettuce, sliced (8 cups)

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (2 cups)

1 avocado, diced (1 cup)

3 celery stalks, sliced (1 cup)

1 cucumber, seeded and diced (1 cup)

1 cup fresh or frozen, thawed corn kernels

3/4 cup cooked pinto beans

1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers, rinsed, drained, and sliced

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

1. To make Tortilla Strips: Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush oil on tortillas. Cut in half, then cut into 1/8-inch-wide strips. Spread on baking sheet. Combine chili powder, maple crystals, and salt in bowl. Sprinkle chili powder mixture over strips. Bake 15 minutes, or until crisp. Cool.

2. To make Dressing: heat oil, garlic, cumin, coriander, sugar, and salt in saucepan 2 to 3 minutes over low heat, or until garlic begins to sizzle.

3. Blend remaining Dressing ingredients with garlic oil in blender until smooth.

4. Toss together all Salad ingredients with Tortilla Strips and 1/4 cup Dressing.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

Top image of Mexicali Chop courtesy of kathrynlovett.com

Image of Ann Gentry courtesy of VegNews.com

Bottom image of Mexicali Chop courtesy of VegetarianTimes.com

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Filed under Beans/Legumes, Gluten Free, Main Dish, Recipes, Salad, Salad Dressing, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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June 18, 2011 · 1:37 pm

MEXICAN WEDDING CAKE BITES

I can remember the first time I tried a Mexican Wedding Cake cookie.  If I remember correctly, my mom was baking holiday cookies and got the recipe for them from one of our neighbors.  I was an instant fan.  I loved the intensely pecan flavor of this cookie and its sugar-coating.

I recently held a vegan cooking (although there was no “cooking” involved) demonstration as part of NEXT Week.  I am a Brand Ambassador for NEXT by Athena and the company put on a great event.  During NEXT week there were tons of free classes held at the Swimspot store at the Irvine Spectrum… everything from pilates, yoga, Pure Barre classes, to my cooking demonstration.  I decided to keep the cooking demonstration easy and made three varieties of my Cookie Dough Bites; PB and C Cookie Dough Bites (click here for the recipe), Mexican Wedding Cake Bites, and Gingerbread Bites.

My kids love my cookie dough bites.  Most everyone I know likes to have something sweet from time to time and these are great for those occasions because there really isn’t anything in them that is too “bad.”  Yes, you do want to make sure you don’t get too much fat in your diet, but I would MUCH rather have the fat in your diet come from nut butters than animal products.  While my version of these Cookie Dough Bites does not have the traditional powdered sugar-coating, you could definitely opt to do so.

Falling back on my simple is best philosophy, these are crazy easy to make and come together in a snap.

The Mexican Wedding Cake Bites are my son’s favorite Cookie Dough Bites, so without further ado…

~

COOKIE BASE
1 cup roasted cashew butter
½ cup Somersweeet **
2 tsp Frontier vanilla flavor ***
1 cup toasted pecans (blended into a meal)
 
** As an alternative you can use sucanut, coconut sugar, date sugar, or powdered sugar
***DO NOT use vanilla extract.  Since these are not cooked, the alcohol in the extract won’t taste good.
 
SUGAR COATING
¼ cup Somersweet **
¼ tsp cinnamon

On the stove over medium-low, toast the pecans (watch carefully to prevent burning).  Once tasted, remove them to cool.

Place the cooled toasted pecans in the food processor and process into a meal.

With a hand blender, cream together the cashew butter, ½ cup Somersweet and vanilla flavor.  Once the mixture is creamed, mix in the toasted pecan meal (I use my hands).

Once the mixture is creamed, mix in the toasted pecan meal (I use my hands while wearing non-latex gloves I bought at Costco).

Form the dough into small rounds (about 1Tbs. each).  In a separate bowl, combine ¼ cup Somersweet with ¼ tsp. cinnamon.  Roll the rounds in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator to firm-up.  The cookies should keep in the fridge for a week.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

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Filed under Cookies / Bars, Dessert, Gluten Free, Kid Friendly, Nuts, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

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