Deconstructing foods to make new foods for E2!

Ok so I don’t know if it’s the lack of oil, dairy, and meat in my diet that’s making me a little hmmm let’s say “creative,” (although some may call it crazy) but I have been creating some interesting recipes for the Engine 2 diet challenge!

If you attended my class this past Wednesday, you’d hear me stress the importance of finding foods you love that correspond with the diet and making delicious foods out of that instead of re-inventing yourself and the foods you like! So following my words of advice, I LOVE anything Mexican when it comes to food. Omit the cheese and things just don’t seem the same though, so I need to do what? That’s right GET CREATIVE!!

In college, I LOVED the word deconstruct. In one of my art classes my professor would use it to pick apart pieces of art that told a story, so I figured, hey if it works well with art, why wouldn’t it work well with food! So I’m deconstructing food here and if you wish to tag along then welcome! So my first deconstruction is with taquitos!

Who doesn’t love taquitos right! Rolled little tacos, easy to eat and handle, you don’t need a fork and did I mention how delicious they are! So, take the oil out, the cheese, the meat and what are you left with…a corn tortilla! Oh BOY! So here’s the creative part. With the Engine 2 diet being a plant based diet, I’m thinking with every meal how I can insert as many veggies in my diet as possible.

So we’re keeping the corn tortilla because one, they are delicious and two, we can!! It’s totally Engine 2 approved! Most corn tortillas are made without oil so go forth and EAT! I on the other hand take it another step further and make my own. It’s very easy and so cheap.

Just come down to Whole Foods and pick up a bag of the corn flour we have down our baking isle and voila! Add water to make the “masa” and then roll them out and heat them in a pan or even in the oven till you get these warm thick wonderful little tortillas!

Next, I’m thinking ok what to put inside these delicious wraps. So omitting all the traditional ingredients, I’m thinking load it with veggies, but I don’t want to make just another veggie wrap.

Since we won’t be frying it in oil, I’m thinking let’s keep it simple just in case it falls apart. So I’m thinking beans, refried beans mashed with no added salt or oils to them and cabbage. CABBAGE!! I know, what you’re thinking but TRUST me! Why cabbage. Well it’s a great veggie. Its crispy has a great flavor and will def. hold its consistency so I figured I’d give it a try.

I’m really into texture when it comes to foods so my thinking is the smooth tortilla and the smooth beans contrasted with the crunchy crisp cabbage would make a perfect meal! So I bought the already pre-shredded container at Whole Foods Market located in their “short cut chef” area of produce, and mashed my pinto beans I made earlier in the week and began my experiment and deconstruction of the taquito.

I took the warm tortilla, spread the mashed beans (lightly) onto it and then added a healthy pinch of the shredded cabbage. Then I rolled the tortilla and placed it with the fold part down on my iron skillet. Now if you don’t have an iron skillet, you can use a pan too, but the iron skillets get so hot I figured it would be best to work with since no oil will bind the tortilla together. I let it sit face down for about 2 minutes and turned it over to find that SUCCESS! It will stay closed so then I proceeded to rotate the rolled tortilla till all sides became brown and crispy!!

I have to say, there are some interesting combinations of foods out there and if you’re willing to experiment, please experiment with this, because it was extremely delicious and still very healthy for you! Just as I previous thought, all the ingredients complimented each other very nicely and I couldn’t be happier with my new found taquitos!

If you want, you can purchase some of your favorite salsa or better yet make your own and dip it in there as well. I also experimented with mashed potatoes (no butter) for this recipe as well and again delicious! Don’t be afraid to try new combinations. Make it fun, make it interesting, surprise yourself and your family with some progressive foods! Best of luck to you all!! See you at next week’s meeting!!

Happy and Healthy Eating!

Diona