Hey, Happy New Year you guys! It’s been … interesting, so far. But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about food!
When we first got down into Baja, I showed you guys a couple of vegan products we found. But that was from a small town, Guerrero Negro. Once we got into bigger cities, oh wow did we find more stuff!
Since I can’t talk about new products we’ve found in the U.S. because we aren’t there, instead I’m going to show you some of the vegan foods we’ve tried down here in Baja.
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Vegan products in Mexico
PlantSquad
PlantSquad has a whole line of products from burgers to ground meat to chicken-like items. And we’ve tried quite a few of them! We hit the motherload at Fresko in Cabo. They had 8-10 different products in the freezer section.
We tried a couple of the burgers but they were pretty bland. They were bean-based and seemed to be about 90% beans. That’s fine, but I can make that at home.
Something else to keep in mind with their products is that even if it says it’s BBQ or Teriyaki, there isn’t any sauce and that flavor is barely discernable. You’re going to have to add your own sauce if you want it to be flavored that way. For example, the teriyaki tempeh is really just tempeh. It tasted fine but I didn’t love the texture it had from being frozen.
Okay, so on to the product with pictures.
Seitan Tenders
On our first trip to Costco in Cabo, we got a big bag of these. They were called seitan fajitas though. Once we opened the smaller packet we knew it was the same thing. The Costco bag was about $10 for 2.2 lbs. The individual packages from PlantSquad are around $7 each.
The photo makes it look like these are heavily breaded but they are not. The seitan is formed into 6-8” long planks and has a nice flavor itself. But with an agave mustard sauce, they were amazing! We used them like this, in a sandwich, and as a stir-fry.
Seitan Ribs
The seitan ribs are the tenders without any breading. There is a minimal amount of BBQ sauce on the outside, but you’ll want more. Again, their seitan is really good.
Milanesa Vegana
This one is a chicken substitute product and we weren’t quite sure what would be going on in the package until we opened it. There were four “breasts” in the package. But it’s like plain chicken that you would use in a recipe.
The first time we had it, I made the mistake of letting it thaw some first. The plant meat becomes kind of a weird playdough texture when thawed. It cooks up fine though but the thawed version is a bit weird.
The second time I made it, pictured here, I sliced it while still frozen and fried it up in a non-stick pan with onions. That worked out great! It browns nicely and the flavor is sort of reminiscent of May Wah drumsticks although the texture isn’t as shreddy.
Parma Sabori Chorizo Vegetariano
Parma Sabori is not a vegan company. Actually, this chorizo seems to be their only vegan product. When compared to the Chato soya chorizo that we find everywhere here, the soy chunks that make it up are a bit larger and have more of a chew to them. This one is also a bit more expensive. I can’t remember exactly how much - maybe $2-3. The Chato one is $0.75 in Cabo and $1.40 in Los Barriles.
The flavor is excellent but it is a bit oily. I think every store-bought veggie chorizo is going to be oily, though.
Güd Smoothie
We’ve been getting a few products from Güd as well. They make a bunch of organic plant milk and we’ve been getting their soy with no added sugar. They also have American cheese slices that are great on burgers. Since we enjoyed those products, we picked a couple of these smoothies to try.
We tried the plain smoothie already but we haven’t broken into this strawberry one yet. The plain was like drinkable coconut yogurt and very tasty. Each bottle was about $1.50.
Heartbest Cream Cheese
Heartbest has a line of vegan cheeses and I think most of them are also gluten-free. They have hard blocks, shreds, and cream cheeses.
The last time we were in Mexico, we found their block mozzarella at Costco. During this visit, we have picked up their block Manchego and Chihuahua and have enjoyed both. They’re amazing on burgers or in quesadillas. The blocks run about $7 at the grocery store. We’ve also seen their shreds at Costco on a recent visit but didn’t get them.
Since we have a bagel supplier here in Los Barriles, we decided to try a couple of Heartbest’s cream cheeses, plain and chocolate. The plain has a wonderful cream cheese flavor, a little bit on the sweet side. The texture is not quite as firm as Tofutti.
The chocolate cream cheese was firmer. The flavor reminded me of a dairy-free Nutella knock-off I used to get at the Israeli market in Dunwoody, GA. On a plain bagel, I felt like I was eating a sort of healthy donut.
These run about $6 each for a 6-7 ounce package.
Chata Chilorio
In addition to the tubes of chorizo, Chata makes several of these microwave meat packets. Lorena says this Chilorio is spot on flavor-wise. It’s a shredded style soy meat in a chili sauce. These are wonderful for quick meals. You just put the whole packet in the microwave for 45 seconds. We usually eat them as a bowl component or in tacos. A pack costs about $2 each.
Luluchi Gourmet Chilorio Vegano
Jackfruit products are not super common down here but we did find this Luluchi Gourmet Chilorio Vegano and decided to give it a try. It was tasty but pretty oily, oilier than the Chato product. Lorena said the flavor wasn’t as authentic. This jar was about $7.
Arroz Rojo or Spanish Rice
When you go to a Mexican restaurant and get a side of rice and beans, the rice will often be Arroz Rojo or, as some people call it, Spanish Rice. Unfortunately, this is often not vegetarian.
Many recipes use a tomato-chicken bouillon as the base.
Yep, it contains actual chicken ingredients. But Arroz Rojo isn’t that hard to make without it. Instead, I used annatto or achiote paste which also comes in a powder. Look for it in the international aisle of your supermarket.
It helps give the rice that rice red color. It also has a certain flavor that is hard to describe. You’ll probably recognize it as one of the missing components when you try to duplicate the Mexican food you’ve had at a restaurant.
This makes a wonderful side to go with tacos or our regular Wednesday tamales, pictured here.
Instant Pot Arroz Rojo (6 servings)
Ingredients
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (half of a small onion, quarter of a large onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground annatto (a.k.a. achiote) or achiote paste
1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups of frozen corn, pea, and carrot blend
Instructions
Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the onion. Cook until it begins to soften, 2-3 minutes, adding water a tablespoon at a time as necessary to prevent sticking. Add the garlic and cook one more minute. Add the tomatoes and all of the spices and cook for 1-2 more minutes until well combined.
Add the broth and rice and stir to combine. Place and seal Instant Pot lid. Set the cooker to high pressure for 22 minutes. When the cook cycle is done, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then quick release the rest.
Open the cooker and stir in the corn, pea, and carrot blend. Replace the lid and let it sit for 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning, make any adjustments needed and serve.
If you want to deviate from the norm, I’ve got an Arroz Verde recipe on our site that you should definitely try. The greens are built right in!
ICYMI Stuff published since the last newsletter
Video: come along as we run to Cabo for supplies, grab lunch at Mi Vegano Favorito, and take you along to the Saturday Market here in Los Barriles.
Post: Resources to help you go plant-based in 2021 - great for sharing with noobs!
Post: How to eat cheap vegan meals on a budget - tips and recipes I shared in a previous Spoonfed but now the recipes have nutrition information
That’s about it for this issue of Spoonfed! There will probably be at least two more issues from south of the border so if you have any requests for topics specifically related to Mexico, drop a comment!
Everyone stay safe and warm and I’ll see you next time!
