cooking with nothing

Mexican potato bake

I absolutely love Mexican food. I’m used to making vegan versions without cheese, sour cream and all those added extras, but it was quite hard to get my head around making an optimal food combining meal. Usually there’s a mixture of starches (tortillas, potatoes) with starchy proteins (black beans) and acid (tomatoes). Here’s my as-Mexican-as-I-can meal to satisfy my cravings for now! You could also use the mixture with flatbreads to make wraps, or turn it into a protein-based Mexican stew by removing the potatoes and slow-cooking the rest with some black beans.

Note: Most people tolerate mixing starches (like potatoes) with starchy proteins (like dried beans) quite well, but I’m following a strict food combining method for my ultra-sensitive digestive system. 

Serves 6

• 4 x medium potatoes, scrubbed well and cut into 1-cm slices
• 1 tsp x olive oil
• 2 x onion, diced
• 4 x garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 x chillies, finely diced
• 1 tsp x ground cumin
• 1 tsp x dried oregano
• 2 tsp x smoked paprika
  
• 100g x mushrooms, diced
• 1 x courgette, diced
• 1 x red capsicum/pepper, diced
  
• 2 x fresh ears of corn, kernels removed
  
• A few handfuls of spinach, chopped
  
• A small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
• 2 TBSP x nutritional yeast (optional)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Separate potato slices and place in a saucepan of cold water, then bring to the boil. Cook for around 5 minutes, or until the potato begins to cook but still holds it shape. Drain the slices and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil  in a large pan over a low heat and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the cumin, chilli, smoked paprika and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add the other vegetables (except potato), mix well, and simmer for 15 minutes (or until softened), stirring frequently. Add the coriander and stir through. 

Spoon one quarter of the vege mixture in the bottom of a 1.5-litre ovenproof dish. Arrange a third of potato slices in a layer over bean mixture. Continue to layer, alternating bean mixture with potato and finishing with a bean layer. Top with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast for an extra – almost cheesy – crunch.  

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes (or until the potatoes are nice and soft). After 15 minutes, remove dish from oven and prick the surface deeply all over with a fork. This allows heat and sauce to circulate through dish. Return to oven for remaining 15 minutes. Serve with a side of steamed vegetables or salad and freshly made guacamole. 

1. notofuforme reblogged this from cookingwithnothing and added:

   Just fyi: 200c = 392f; I just...mine on 400f when it calls

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