Forgive me. I have about a thousand more recipes for Christmas, but almost every one of them is something involving sugar. I simply have to take a quick break – and I do mean quick because next week we’ll be up to our necks in Christmas cupcake competition craziness (try saying that five times fast!) – and bring back a bit of healthy on the blog before my teeth fall out from all the sugar and I gain an unsightly amount of holiday weight. How’s that for a mental image?
This was my first time attempting to make tamales. I even went so far as to head down to my local Mexican grocery store and pick up the corn husks and masa. If I’m gonna do this, I gotta do it right, yea? Let me tell ya, I am in love that grocery store. Who knew that fruits and vegetables were so much cheaper at an international grocery store? Not to mention the chile pepper selection! Lets just say that I went in with a grocery list of two items and came out with mucho mas.
I will be honest and say up front, that this is not a recipe to use on a night when you don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen or aren’t in the mood for a cooking challenge. These tamales were more of a project than I anticipated. The assembly proved to be a true endeavor and left me in need of a stiff drink and a lazy boy. All that being said, when I sat down and took my first bite, it was most definitely worth all the work that went into them.
Are you up for the tamale challenge? Here’s what you’ll need to grab:
Ingredients Needed:
1 Pkg. of Corn Husks
2 Cups of Masa
1 tsp of Baking Powder
3/4 tsp of Salt
2 tsp of Cumin
2 tsp of Chili Powder
21/4 Cup of Veggie Broth
1 Stick of Butter
1 Zucchini, Chopped
3 Green Onions, Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 Tbsp of Oil
1 Large Bunch of Chopped Cilantro
2 Roma Tomatoes, Chopped
1/2 of a Lime, Juiced
1/2 Cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Start off by soaking your corn husks in water for at least 30 minutes.
While the husks are soaking, we’ll whip up a batch of masa.
To your bowl add in the masa, baking powder, 1/2 tsp of the salt, and 1 tsp of both the cumin, and chili powder.
Now add 2 cups of the veggie broth to your mixture and form a dough.
Pop your stick of butter into your mixer and whip it up for a minute or so.
Now add the masa dough in and mix it up well again.
Set your finished dough aside and let’s move on to the filling.
Grab your saute pan and cook up your zucchini, green onions, and garlic on medium heat in the tbsp of oil for 2 to 3 minutes.
Now add in the rest of your broth (1/4 cup), the cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, and the remaining cumin, chili powder (1 tsp each) and salt (1/4 tsp).
Stir it together and add in the shredded cheese.
Are you ready to assemble cuz it’s time! Grab up one of your soaked corn husks and slather a good amount of the masa mixture on top.
Now, take a spoonful of your veggie filling and place it down the middle third of your tamale. Make sure to leave a bit of space at the ends.
Ok here’s the fun part that nearly drove me to drink. Wrap it up like you would a burrito and tie it off. I used another corn husk to tie it up.
Grab a big pot and steam those beautiful rolled up veggie delights for about 90 minutes on medium high heat. I didn’t have a steamer that big, so I used my large stock pot and placed my noodle strainer inside of it with the pot cover over the top.
Take note of how my wrapping became progressively lazier as time when on. My last ones were wrapped more like Christmas cracker toys than tamales.
While the tamales are steaming, periodically check your water level to ensure you don’t boil it all away!
Pull one out after 90 minutes and unwrap it to see if it’s cooked through. The masa should be firm.
Whew! Here’s my final product. Check out those beautiful tamales.
Sometimes it’s just worth the work.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and wish me luck at the cupcake competition this weekend!
I am linking this post up to Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out and Tickled Pink over at 504 Main.
Vegetarian Tamales
Total Time: 2 Hours 30 min
Ingredients:
1 Pkg. Corn Husks
2 Cups Masa
1 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Chili Powder
21/4 Cups Veggie Broth
1 Stick Butter
1 Zucchini, Chopped
3 Green Onions, Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 Tbsp Oil
1 Large Bunch Cilantro
2 Roma Tomatoes, Chopped
1/2 Lime, Juiced
1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
Directions:
Start off by soaking your corn husks in water for at least 30 minutes.
Grab a bowl and add in the masa, baking powder, 1/2 tsp of the salt, and 1 tsp of both the cumin, and chili powder.
Now add 2 cups of the veggie broth to your mixture and form a dough.
Pop your stick of butter into your mixer and whip it up for a minute or so.
Add the masa dough in and mix it up well again.
Set your finished dough aside and let's move on to the filling.
Grab your saute pan and cook up your zucchini, green onions, and garlic on medium heat in the tbsp of oil for 2 to 3 minutes.
Now add in the rest of your broth (1/4 cup), the cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, and the remaining cumin, chili powder (1 tsp each) and salt (1/4 tsp).
Stir it together and add in the shredded cheese.
Are you ready to assemble cuz it's time! Grab up one of your soaked corn husks and slather a good amount of the masa mixture on top.
Now, take a spoonful of your veggie filling and place it down the middle third of your tamale. Make sure to leave a bit of space at the ends.
Wrap it up like you would a burrito and tie it off. I used another corn husk to tie it up.
Grab a big pot and steam those beautiful rolled up veggie delights for about 90 minutes on medium high heat. I didn't have a steamer that big, so I used my large stock pot and placed my noodle strainer inside of it with the pot cover over the top.
While the tamales are steaming, periodically check your water level to ensure you don't boil it all away.
Pull one out after 90 minutes and unwrap it to see if it's cooked through. The masa should be firm.
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I can’t believe how good those look! You are very talented to get these right on the first try – I’ve been scared to try them 🙂
Now this is something I need to try, Tamales. Yours look perfect.
wow, those look beautiful!! do you eat the corn husk as well? obviusly I have not had/made these before but they look great, anne
I can’t wait for Fridays to look at your new creations! I love it! those look so cute Julie. I am impressed with them. Love how they look. Your family and friends are so lucky to have such a wonderful meal!
Have a great weekend.
So cute!
My confession: I’ve lived in Mexico for 5 years, and I don’t like tamales! *hangs head in shame*
Thanks for the step by step recipe.I love the very look of those tamales..one of my fav mex food.
These look delicious! I’m a veggie-tarian so I appreciate the recipe. I also love the easy directions with pictures. I will be making these soon. Thank you and good luck with your cupcakes.
(SITStah HH)
The look FANTASTICALLY DELICIOUS! I love the recipe.
Have a wonderful weekend:)
Pork Tamales are a tradition in my family, but ever since my dad became vegetarian we’ve been trying out different veggie tamales. This might be our next usual! Thanks!
I have no idea that making veggie tamales is this easy! Thank you for including step by step shots too
Those tamales look great!! My mom would love these, especially since they are vegetarian!!
FYI: Did you know that the singular form of “tamales” is “tamal”, not “tamale”? 😀
Aren’t ethnic grocery stores fun! What a great project – wish I was there to try them. Our neighbors have a Christmas Eve party with homemade tamales — my mouth is watering now!
So anxious to hear all about the competition!!! Wishing you the best with it. BTW, these tamales look wonderful. What a great “out of the box” idea for Mexican night!
i’ve always been way too lazy to make my own tamales, but i can always summon the energy to eat them. 🙂
Now I know why tamales taste so good! I had no idea that they required that much butter 🙂 We love tamales, but don’t eat pork. I’m so glad to have found a vegetarian recipe! Thank you for sharing with me. I hope you have a relaxing Sunday.
No, don’t eat the corn husk!
Wrapping is the easiest part. Invite us over next time. 🙂 I’m impressed you made your own masa. We get the pre-made version. You still have to knead it a bit, but it’s much easier. That said, we usually make them with my mom, but this year we’ll be striking out on our own. Wish us luck!
I’d love to try these for my family. They look delicious!
I am giddy! You seriously do not know how excited I am to see this. I cannot wait to make them…are they super time consuming. Everyone tells me to buy them, but what is the fun in that. We WILL be doing this on Christmas Eve!
I do love tamales!! I have never seen veggie tamales but I am sure they were delicious! I have been trying to get up the nerve to try and make them, my grandmother made a great tamale, but then again she cooked everything well!
I may have to give tamales a try over the Christmas break
Cheers
Dennis
Mmmm, nice tamales Julie. Good luck with the cupcake competition.
This looks awesome!! ALthough lots of work, I think it would be worth it for something fun and different. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve always wanted to try tamales and these look absolutely amazing!
This looks fantastic. I was wondering if you knew how many calories are in this. I really want to make this!
How many tamales does this recipe make?
I came across your site and just love the many different amazing recipes you have, I made this tonight for dinner, I will let you know how they are 🙂
Julie I stumbled upon your website when looking for vegetarian tamales and was very impressed with your recipes and your step by step pictures! I have to say growing up in Southern California with half of my family Mexican and Spanish I wasn’t sure if a woman from North Carolina could make tamales like back home… but WOW your recipe was absolutely delicious!!
I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Thanks Julie:)
YUMMY… YUMMY
Wow, these were really good. I added one fresh jalepeno pepper (diced) to the filling. This was my first time making tamales. Thanks for the recipe.
making these are so much fun -defintly will make them again
got to make these
Thanks for this great recipe! For me it made 14 small tamales.
I made these for Christmas Eve dinner, I had a room full of vegetarians and we loved them! Thanks for the great recipe.
This recipe was delish! I thought it would be difficult, but it was not hard to make at all. I used black beans in place of the zucchini. The tamales were a huge hit in my house. I’ll make these again! Thank you for sharing!
Last Sunday, I used this recipe to make my very first tamales EVER. My mom grew up in New Orleans,and has very fond memories of a tamale cart that she and my grandmother used to frequent. Since become vegetarian, over 30 years ago, tamales have been hard for her to come by. For the last several months she’s had an insatiable craving for them, so I did a little research before finding your recipe. My tamale starved mother proclaimed them to be the best tamales she’s ever had!!! I am now obsessed with making tamales, and as a result, my mother is in heaven. THANK YOU for posting this.