These vegan sopes or sopes de nogada are topped with a walnut “meat”, refried mayocoba beans, tomatillo avocado salsa, queso fresco, and cilantro. They are meant to be eaten with your hands so you can bask in the glorious messiness of eating yet another variation of Mexico’s love affair with corn.
La Vida Verde
This recipe is from the book La Vida Verde
by Jocelyn Ramirez. Jocelyn is the founder of Todo Verde a plant-based Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles. She is a former college professor who found the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle when her father was diagnosed with cancer a second time.
This book is an amazing tribute to her family, culture, and traditions. With recipes like Mole Verde con Champiñones, Tamale Negro con Yaca, and Queso Quesadilla this book brings into the plant-based world authentic vegan Mexican recipes for the whole family. Honestly, this book is incredibly well written, and I am so happy to be sharing with you the work of another woman of color who is supporting and championing the community she came from. The book is available on pre-order now!
What are sopes??
Sopes are a sort of thick small tortilla with a border along the edges. It is made out of masa harina or nixtamalized corn. Traditionally it is served with beans, cheese, lettuce and the main filling, but they can also have potatoes, radishes, and pickled jalapeños. In different regions of Mexico, they are also known as memelas, pellizcadas or picadas and they shape can vary from round to oval.
How to make Sopes?
The easiest way to make sopes at home is with masa harina. I recently found one that is organic called Masabrosa! The ratio of water to masa harina is going to vary according to where you live and whether it is humid outside. The important thing to know is your prepared masa should be the texture of soft playdough, and you should be able to roll a small ball of dough without any cracks in it.
The Recipe: Walnut and Bean Vegan Sopes
- You can use the walnut seasoning to flavor tofu or TVP of you have an allergy to nuts
- If you are looking for a crispier texture on the sopes you can fry them after having pinched the edges.
- Be careful not to add too much liquid to your walnut seasoning or you will end up with a soupy concoction instead of a meaty texture.
- Use canned refried beans and premade salsa for a super-fast version of this recipe
Walnut and Bean Vegan Sopes
Ingredients
For the Walnut Meat
- 3 cups Raw walnuts
- ½ cup Sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 tbsp. Liquid aminos or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. Raw sugar
- 1 tbsp. Cumin
- 1 tbsp. Paprika
- 1 tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. Nutritional yeast
- 3 cloves Garlic, peeled
- ½ cup Cooking oil, plus 2 tbsp
- Salt, to taste
For the Beans
- ¼ cup Cooking oil
- 3 cups Cooked mayocoba beans, strained
- ½ tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp. Ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup Vegetable broth
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Sopes
- 3 cups Prepared masa harina (about 2 cups masa harina and 2 cups hot water)
Avocado Salsa
- 3 Tomatillos, large, fire roasted
- 1 Jalapeño, destemmed (deseeded if too spicy), fire roasted
- 1-2 tbsp. Lemon juice
- ⅛ tsp. Ground cumin
- ½ Medium Hass avocado
- ¼ bunch Cilantro
- Salt, to taste
For Serving
- Queso cotija
- Cilantro
Instructions
- To make the walnut meat, use a food processor to break down the walnuts to small pieces similar to the size of ground beef pieces. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender and blend the walnuts 1 cup (120 g) at a time. Add the ground walnuts to a bowl and set aside.
- Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes, or until rehydrated. In the blender, place the rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes (reserve the hydrating water), liquid aminos, sugar, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, garlic, 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) of the oil, 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) of the water used to rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes and salt. Blend until completely smooth and add the mixture to the bowl of ground walnuts. Mix until the walnuts are fully incorporated.
- Coat the bottom of a sauté pan with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of oil, and preheat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the walnut mixture to the pan. Sauté for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the mixture slightly darkens, the walnut pieces soften and the flavors meld together. Taste for seasoning, adding more as needed. Set the walnut meat aside.
- To make the beans, coat the bottom of a medium pot with the oil. Preheat the oil over medium heat and add the mayocoba beans, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, bay leaf, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. Allow the beans to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, and use a bean smasher or hand-held emulsifier to smash the beans into a rough and slightly runny paste. Taste for seasoning, and add more as needed.
- To make the sopes, preheat a comal or griddle over medium heat. Divide the masa into 1⁄4-cup (65-g) balls. You should have 12 balls. Use your hands to press the masa into thick 4-inch (10-cm) round disks, using your fingers to gently press any cracked edges. These will be thicker than tortillas and will take slightly longer to cook. Place each sope on the comal to cook for about 2 minutes. When the first side sears and the edges start to slightly dry, flip it over to the second side and cook for 2 more minutes. Flip the sope again and remove to a plate to slightly cool. Once each sope is cool enough to handle, use your fingers to pinch the edges, forming a rim around the edge of each sope. Put them back on the comal to heat through.
- To make the avocado salsa, add the tomatillos, jalapeño, lemon juice, cumin, avocado, cilantro and salt to a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste for lemon juice and salt, and add more as needed.
- To serve, add a layer of mayocoba beans to the bottom of each sope. It should be enough to fill the rim of the sope. Add the walnut meat over the beans, and top it with the salsa. Garnish with Queso Añejo and cilantro.
Notes
- You can use the walnut seasoning to flavor tofu or TVP of you have an allergy to nuts
- If you are looking for a crispier texture on the sopes you can fry them after having pinched the edges.
- Be careful not to add too much liquid to your walnut seasoning or you will end up with a soupy concoction instead of a meaty texture.
- Use canned refried beans and premade salsa for a super-fast version of this recipe
Nutrition
Although dorastable.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates.
I had received a copy of La Vida Verde for my birthday last year. This was the first recipe out of that book that I had tried. When I couldn't find my copy after moving homes, I was so glad to find this one reprinted (with permission) so that I could make this dish again until I could find the book!
I absolutely love this recipe, and the dish is delicious! I was surprised at the depth of flavor of this dish with only a few ingredients required. I've never had meat sopes, since I've been vegetarian for 15 years, but I'm sure that I'll never miss out on the flavors of the original, now that I have this recipe!
By the way, here are a few tips that I can share, from my experience with making the dish:
- I love the avocado salsa recipe, and I use fresh Bacon or Fuerte avocados, when they're in season, and I skip the cilantro, cumin, and jalapeno. The remaining ingredients make for an amazing salsa.
- When I'm in a pinch for time, I use Amy's refried beans instead of making my own. They taste wonderful and are a quick and organic alternative for me to use.
- I sometimes layer fresh romaine head lettuce into the sopes -- usually, between the layer of beans and the layer of sopes meat. That adds a delicious and different kind of crunch, compared to the walnut meat, to the dish.
What can I use instead of sun dried tomatoes?
You can use tomato paste.
hi there! I can't find mayocoba beans where i live. I can find something similar to pinto or small white navy beans. Do you know which would be closest to taste and texture? Thank
I love all your recipes!
Pinto will work best
Can I substitute the walnuts with anything else??
Yes you can use chopped up cauliflower
Everything but the walnut meat turned out great! I wasn’t aware we needed to continually stir the walnuts and accidentally burned $7 in walnuts in 3 minutes. Maybe you could add that tip to the instructions. Everything else was fabulous :).
So sorry that happened. I'll be sure to add a note to the recipe