As a kid, there was a Mexican restaurant that my family went to all the time, El Burro. I loved this place because, at the time, there was a big fountain outside with little frog statues that shot water out of their mouths and a big, covered gazebo where I could pretend I was on stage and dance like a maniac (neither of which are still there). The food was good too.
Back then, I only liked very plain foods. While my mom and dad would order the chile verde burrito or enchiladas, all I wanted was a side of beans, a side of rice, and a tortilla. Once I was served, I would use my fork to mix the beans and the rice together. If my parents had ordered guacamole as an appetizer, I would add some of that in there too. I would then eat the rice and bean mixture, occasionally taking breaks to take bites of my plain tortilla. This was what I ordered at any Mexican restaurant I went to (except Taco Bell) until I was around fifteen years old.
I loved my little Mexican restaurant set-up. I would probably have continued to order this way forever if it weren't for becoming a teenager and going on dates. On one such date, we went to a Mexican restaurant and not wanting to look childish, I ordered a burrito, thus marking the beginning of my NorCal burrito obsession (though that is a story for another day).
Since then, I've periodically had beans and rice as a meal (though it may not have been "Mexican-themed" per say) and of course, I've always loved the sides of beans and rice you get with your meal at some Mexican restaurants. I know that this sort of recipe is far from original. It's just that the thought of actually making a meal of Mexican-style beans and rice just hasn't really been at the forefront of my mind until recently.
The Cafe Gratitude near my house recently added the "I am Mucho" to the menu, a Mexican-themed beans and rice bowl. The last time I was there, as I scanned the menu my eyes fell upon this entry. Beans and rice or quinoa served over lettuce with tomatoes, corn, cashew cheese and guacamole... I was in love. The dish was every bit as good as I'd expected and for a week, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I needed to replicate it. So I did and now I can't stop making it.
My version has a mixture of quinoa, amaranth (an ancient Mexican grain), and farro cooked in vegetable broth to give it a little more flavor (though brown rice could easily be used instead of farro to make this bowl gluten-free). I also made a salad/pico de gallo combo of roma tomatoes, corn, zucchini, cilantro and lime juice. It's served over a bed of chard (though any other green could be used) with some black beans and topped with a big dollop of fresh guacamole, cashew cheese sauce and toasted pepitas for a little extra crunch. It's basically my heaven on Earth.
It's interesting to me that one of my favorite meals as a child was a classic vegan meal that I still love just as much today. The old adage says that if you put a young child in a room with an apple and a bunny, he/she will eat the apple and play with the bunny. It's our natural instinct to eat plants and yet, as we get older, we're often detoured from those instincts for one reason or another. Eating animals and their byproducts is not something we naturally do, it's something we're taught. I say it's time to let our inner child choose what we eat.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least one hour (reserve the water)
- 6 tablespoons reserved soaking water
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon white miso
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt to taste (optional)
- 3 roma tomatoes, diced small
- 1 zucchini, diced small
- 2/3 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen & defrosted)
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- juice from 1 lime
- several dashes of cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
- 2 avocados, seeded and skins removed, mashed
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup amaranth
- 1/4 cup quinoa
- 1/4 cup farro (or brown rice)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos (or tamari/soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili pepper
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups chopped chard (or kale, spinach, romaine, or other green)
- 1/3 cup toasted pepitas
- hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all of the cashew cheese ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Store in an airtight container until ready to use. This can be made a few days in advance, if needed.
- Combine all of the salad ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Cover and chill until ready to use. This can be made a day in advance, if needed.
- In a large bowl, mash the avocados using a potato masher or fork until it is creamy with only small chunks left. Add the rest of the guacamole ingredients and mix until combined. Cover and chill until ready to use. This can be made a couple hours ahead, if needed
- Once the quinoa and farro have soaked for an hour or so, rinse and pour into a pot. Add the amaranth and cover with the vegetable broth and water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, crack the lid just a hair and reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer until all liquid has cooked away, about 20-25 minutes. Once the liquid has cooked away, remove from heat and stir with a fork. Cover again and let rest until ready to use.
- In the last ten minutes that the grains are cooking, you can cook the beans. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat for about a minute. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and the beans and mix to combine. Add the spices, the vegetable broth and the Bragg Liquid Aminos and mix to combine. Let it cook until liquid has cooked away, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Once the liquid has cooked away, remove from heat and stir in the lime juice.
- Distribute the greens amongst the serving bowls (this will provide for 2-4 people). To each bowl, add some of the cooked grains, the cooked beans, and the tomato, corn & zucchini salad. Top each with a dollop of guacamole and drizzle cashew cheese. Sprinkle toasted pepitas and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Do you like Mexican food? What's your favorite Mexican meal?
Photography by Chris Miller
Beth
Oh, that looks so good! I am going to try this (minus the guac, sadly). I love Mexican food, but it's really hard to eat plant-based and go to a Mexican restaurant, at least in my area, as most everything has meat, cheese or sour cream. I end up doing what you did -- getting the beans, rice and tortillas, or eating a lot of chips and salsa. Sometimes I can get veggie fajitas if they have them, but with my sensitivity to so many veggies, that can be hard, too. I love the rice dishes -- cilantro-lime rice or even the Spanish-style rice with corn, but mostly at home I saute zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and whatever else I have with a variety of chili spices, then wrap it in a tortilla and call it a burrito. I also like to my my own salt and lime tortilla chips with corn tortillas. They are so easy and taste 100 times better than anything from a bag!
Kelly @ Vegan Iowan
This is beautiful! I love how versatile and flavorful Mexican cuisine can be. I'm on a big pepitas kick right now, and they look like the perfect garnish to this!
Caitlin
i love the mix of grains and cashew cheese in this bowl. it's filled with so many amazing things. i wish there was a cafe gratitude in our area..
Heather
Justin and I love Mexican bowls- they are super easy, cheap and healthy! In general we at least have one Mexican Inspired meal once a week- the cashew cheeze sounds like an awesome addition!
Growing up my Aunt (who is Mexican, she live in California) made the BEST Chicken Enchiladas and Mexican Rice- I could have lived on that alone for days....I need her to make a vegan version next time she visits NH!
The Vegan Cookie Fairy
Hm, this looks unbelievable. I have recently been properly introduced to Mexican foods by a good friend of mine, and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then. I'm a bit daunted by the long list of ingredients for this recipe but it looks too delicious to pass up on.
Beth Ann Blackwood
looks so yummy! thanks for the inspiration, Kristy!
sarah@thesweetlife
This bowl is calling my name! Everything, of course, tastes better when it comes as a bowl.
There is this place in Portland, Porque No, that has some of the best Mexican food around. It made me a re-believer in Mexican food.
Chef Amber Shea
Oh, hell yes. This looks incredible. And finally a way to use up my amaranth! 🙂
Alex Caspero MA,RD (@delishknowledge)
Yup. I love, love that saying! SO many clients tell me things like "their kids don't like meat" and I want to say Yes. Of course they don't, go with that instead of thinking it's wrong. Ugh..really annoys me. But, then we educate and all is right 🙂
I love, love mexican bowls. I make a "copycat" chipotle bowl all the time and it is my favorite comfort food. Especially with a healthy serving of avocado. I like yours with amaranth and quinoa as well, going to try it next time the craving hits!
Emily - it comes naturally blog
I've only ever been for Mexican once before. This has inspired me to make a Mexican bowl this weekend. I've got some amaranth that needs using. Thanks Kirsty!
Emma
Hurrah for beans and rice, done fancy! I never had Mexican food growing up but love it so much now. This bowl has all my favourite Mexican elements + more.
I would never have thought to cook different grains together.
Hannah
Isn't it funny when you realise some of your favourite things growing up were vegan? My mum's indescribablygood and famous crumbles have always been gluten-free and vegan, though I never thought it through until dabbling that way myself as a teen!
This looks super lovely, Kristy. 🙂
rika@veganmiam.com
Hi Kristy! Didn't I tell you that, you've absolutely gorgeous photos? Lovely styling and great plating taste! Over the years, I've been reading your blog, and your photography keeps getting beautiful! I love the idea of a Mexican bowl: cashew cheese, tomato, corn & zucchini salad, guacamole and beans. All of the components are delicious and fit well together.
rika@veganmiam.com
I just added you on a list of bloggers I will be reading daily, and it is a new feeder, so I'm trying it out! So expect more comments from me this time! I look forward to hearing from you!
Anna {Herbivore Triathletre}
This Mexican Bowl looks like my Heaven on Earth too. Yum, yum, yum! I love Mexican food in general and you can't go wrong with beans and rice. This looks amazing, I will definitely have to try it!
Jackie @ Vegan Yack Attack!
Clearly, you and I both have Mexican food on the brain! It's so funny, because when I was younger, I would order plates at restaurants and after I ate the enchilada or whatever I would mix the rice, beans and salsa together and eat it like that.
That being said, this appeals to my taste buds the way that most bowls don't. Tasty!
Cadry
This looks amazing! I could happily eat this multiple times a week.
You and I have the same white bowls. I just bought two of them from Crate & Barrel when we were in Chicago for my birthday. I saw them and thought right away they'd be the perfect size for a salad or meal like this one. And speaking of bowls, I see you're still using the little blue dish I gave you! Yay! My dish is famous now! 🙂
Rika is right. Your styling and Chris' pictures just continue to get more and more impressive. I am so in awe.
Amb
I am from Northern California and I must say they have the best burritos! Even before I was vegan my favorite Mexican meal was a super veggie burrito. To this day it is still my favorite. I often make burrito bowls at home with lots of veggies, beans, rice, salsa, and guacamole. It is my ultimate go to meal.
Amanda Rae
My boyfriend always orders I Am Mucho at CG so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to give it a try. We both thought your version was actually much better than CG!!! I will definitely be making this again. I made a few changes: 1. I bought pre-made guac. 2. I just used quinoa 3. I sauteed the corn/tomato/zucchini salad
keepinitkind
Wow! That is quite a compliment! Thank you so much! 🙂
Richa
This is one insane bowl with so much good stuff. I might just feel like a super hero after eating so many grains and beans in one bowl:)
i like the new design and the logo and the recipe section.. the site is also snappier.
the right side bar seems to be a bit bigger so it takes away slightly from the main content area. i am sure its just coz i am used to the old design.:)
RBoesch
What a great recipe!
The whole family gobbled it up, including my picky two year old!
This is our new family staple.
Rebecca
This is gorgeous! Both the dish and the photography!
Rebecca
I've made this several times and absolutely loved it! I decided to put my own spin on it and post it on my blog. Thanks so much for introducing me to this concept. So yummy!
Tracey @ A Taste of Trace
I made this for my boyfriend and I tonight and we both loved it! I added some roasted sweet potatoes to the bowl which were a great addition. I really liked the flavour of the bean mixture too! Great recipe! 🙂
Jo
Yum! We had this for dinner tonight - the only change I made was using cucumber instead of zucchini as it is really expensive and out of season here in NZ. Will be making this dish again.