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a close up 3 vegan sopes filled with beans, walnut meat, avocado salsa on a colorful talavera plate and yellow napkin underneath
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Walnut and Bean Vegan Sopes

These vegan sopes or sopes de nogada are topped with a walnut “meat”, refried mayocoba beans, tomatillo avocado salsa, queso fresco, and cilantro. Reprinted with permission from La Vida Verde by Jocelyn Ramirez, Page Street Publishing Co. 2019.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 1413kcal
Author Dora S.

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
  • tsp. Ground cumin
  • ½ Medium Hass avocado
  • ¼ bunch Cilantro
  • Salt, to taste

For Serving

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

Serving: 4sopes | Calories: 1413kcal | Carbohydrates: 101g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 105g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Sodium: 741mg | Potassium: 1803mg | Fiber: 26g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 2892IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 253mg | Iron: 14mg