Last week’s meal plan got derailed by a trip to the Farmer’s Market as well as time to finally make something we’d been wanting to make for a while now – tamales!!! About a year ago we bought the book, Tamales 101 by Alice Guadalupe Tapp. We have both read through it multiple times and drooled over the recipes. Last Christmas, we thought we might make them but I don’t have a stand mixer and the mixing of the masa by hand was a bit intimidating. But I knew that other people make them without, it was just an excuse for a mixer! But still I refrained from buying one and so we didn’t make them. Finally, when my in-laws were here a couple of weeks back we thought we might make them then since four pairs of hands seemed better than two. But we ran out of time.
So this weekend, my husband was determined. We made two kinds, Green Chile and Cheese (vegetarian) tamales and a dessert tamale, Raspberry Chocolate pecan. They were both wonderful!!! Both recipes were from Tamales 101. It’s a great book. And it isn’t really very hard, once you get the hang of it. My handy-dandy hand mixer also managed the challenge just fine. Here are some photos for your drooling pleasure.
A giant bowl of masa.
The mess of assembly.
Green Chile and Cheese tamales steaming in the pot.
Green Chile and Cheese on the left and the Raspberry Chocolate Pecan on the right.
Between that and trying to take care of the things in the frig that needed to be eaten or ‘dealt’ with and impulse-buying at the farmer’s market, I really don’t need to buy much at the grocery tomorrow.
Also, this week, the Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted by Celiac Family and the theme is tomatoes! Who isn’t eating tomatoes right now? It’s prime time. Last week I made white bean gazpacho with some of my tomatoes. I wish I had more tomatoes coming on than I do but we have been struggling with pests this year and both of my big, beautiful San Marzano paste tomato plants are slowly dying. But our Black Russian and Stupice varieties are beginning to come on. So we’re still hoping for more tomatoes, I just wish it was the San Marzanos.
At the farmer’s market I picked up some more beets, some okra, oyster mushrooms, leeks, tomatillos, three different kinds of fingerling potatoes and some cute little Japanese shishito peppers.
So, for the meal plan:
Mushroom and Leek Pasta with Salad – we made this tonight and it was delicious. I used the oyster mushrooms and leeks I picked up at the farmer’s market. Thanks for a wonderful recipe, Jenn!
Cucumber and Avocado Soup, Sauteed Fingerling Potatoes, Oven Roasted Okra – the soup never got made last week as my avocados were not ripe. But I still have plenty of cucumbers! And thanks to Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free for the idea of roasting the okra.
Our very own tamales with shishito peppers and tomatillo salsa – I will fry the peppers in very hot oil and sprinkle with salt. And we will roast the tomatillos with some garlic and onions and make a salsa out of them. Great for dipping the tamales in!
Sesame Maple Roasted Tofu with roasted beets and stir-fried sugar snap peas
And lots of leftovers!
As for desert this week, we still have homemade vanilla frozen yogurt, David Lebovitz’s cherries in red wine sauce, Shirley’s honey cinnamon ice cream and of course, the raspberry chocolate pecan tamales. So there is probably no need for additional ice cream this week.
If you are looking for any more meal ideas, be sure to check out OrgJunkie and all the ideas over there (most are not gluten free or vegetarian).
Beyond Rice and Tofu 
[…] at Beyond Rice and Tofu says that pests have limited her supply of tomatoes this year. However, she still had enough to […]
This menu is just stunning. I can barely believe how good everything sounds. Why are we not neighbors? I’d “just happen to stop by” every night around dinner time…
Your tamales look incredible! I want to make tamales! How long did it take? Was it like an all-day project, a weekend project, or something you could whip up in an evening?
This entire sentence: “Sesame Maple Roasted Tofu with roasted beets and stir-fried sugar snap peas” is making my mouth water like crazy. I think that is what is on the menu in heaven.
Plenty of Delicious-adding happening from this menu!
Have a great week of cooking!
You are too funny! I wish we could all be neighbors, a little commune of gluten-free-ness! Yummy communal dinners every night! I will come to CA and join you!
The tamales were intimidating but they really weren’t hard, it just takes practice. It was kind of a half-day project. My husband made the green chile filling the night before. And then I think I started mixing masa around 3pm or so. Majority of the work was done around 7pm, but the steaming took a while because my pot was not large enough to fit them all and I only had one steamer basket that would fit in my pots. We made about 42 total with a recipe for masa that said it would make 2-3 dozen tamales. I didn’t finish steaming them until about 9:30 because they take about 50-55 minutes to steam. I froze the majority of them.
It is worth it to make a lot all at once because it does take a little bit of practice to get used to how much masa and how to spread it. I think starting with three dozen is a manageable amount for the first time. I was ready to be done. Try it! You’ll love them! And the cookbook, Tamales 101 has quite a few vegetarian recipes in it. As well as the dessert ones, which I had never had before.
As for the tofu recipe, I hope it is as good as it sounds! It’s a new one for us. I need to use up some tahini…
Thanks for the comment!
No wonder you get distracted and derailed at your farmer’s market–the choices you have! I’ve always thought it would be fun to make tamales, but all I ever do is think about it. I’m with Scrumptious–Wish we were neighbors and we could all get together over one of your dinners.
Wendy
Tamales would be fun to make as a group. That’s traditionally how they do it too…since it is so much work. We should have a gluten free tamale making meet-up some where, some day!
Yes, it was a good farmer’s market day. The mushroom guy was teasing me because I was thinking so hard about how many I wanted and how much cash I had left. I make myself stick to an allowance when I go because otherwise I would buy way too much stuff. This week was pushing it. I hope I can get to all the yumminess in time!
I agree with “scrumptious.” Your menu IS stunning! Super cool on the tamales. I have the masa harina, but haven’t used it yet. To be truthful, I buy it, then there’s a call for food bank needs, I donate it and other stuff and then I buy more. So I’m like Wendy … just thinking about the tamales or homemade tortillas, etc.
Thanks for the shout out on the ice cream! It’s one of my favorites to share with others. :-)
Shirley
Just had a bit more of your honey cinnamon tonight on the side of my dessert tamale! Wonderful flavors! We want to make pumpkin dessert tamales next and the honey cinnamon would go even better with those!!!
I know what you mean about buying certain ingredients and not using them. I have a few of those here too. I have been cleaning out and eating up some stuff around here lately and whatever isn’t still edible gets fed to the chickens!
I might have to try making tortillas too with the leftover masa. Or pupusas. Or arepas… so many yummy options!
Love all the tamales! That reminds me that I haven’t made pupusas in a long time. The cucumber and avocado soup sounds good, too.
I might have to try making pupusas with my leftover masa… I have never made them, just eaten them! Send me a recipe if you have one!
I used Diane’s recipe at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang. You can check out my review and links to her recipes for pork-filled pupusas and spicy slaw at http://celiacfamily.com/pupusas-and-spicy-slaw/
I LOVE tamales! I am salivating over here! ha ha, I think I’m going to have to make tamales this week! The last time I made them was probably 5 or 6 months ago.
Wow, 5-6 months ago! You’re hard-core! :-) Around here people make them only make them in the fall, which is understandable since they’re so much work and they’re a warm and snuggly food. So we felt weird making them in July!!! But I guess we’re already talking about making some more too. What are your favorite flavors, Rachel?
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