This Vegetable Mole is a simplified, vegetarian version of the traditional Mexican dish, made with sweet potatoes, red peppers, kidney beans and sweetcorn.
Last week I reviewed Sarah Britton’s fabulous recipe book My New Roots. One of my favourite recipes from that book was her 10 Spice Chili (she’s Canadian, hence the North American spelling of chilli). Her inspiration for this dish came from the traditional Mexican sauce ‘mole’ (pronounced mol-eh and not like the animal who likes to dig up your garden!).
According to the lovely Wikipedia, a traditional Mexican mole might include 20 or more ingredients, including chillies, tomatoes, tomatillos, cumin, cloves, garlic and cocoa. The ingredients are roasted and ground and then water is added to make a sauce. The sauce is then simmered until it is very thick. The process is very labour intensive and can often take a day or more. Though obviously these days the sauce is made commercially and can be bought from a shop!
Sarah’s recipe in My New Roots is nowhere near as labour intensive, but it still involves 10 herbs and spices – not all that practical for most people, who don’t have a large cupboard of herbs and spices at their disposal, and consequently not one that really fits in very well with the ethos of Easy Peasy Foodie! The dish was so lovely, though, that I wanted to share it, albeit in a simplified form. I’ve been experimenting a little and I think I have a version that captures the essential flavours of the dish but without quite so many ingredients. Best of all, if you get your skates on, my version only takes 30 minutes!!
Mole is traditionally served with meat, but Sarah’s version is a vegetarian one and consequently so is mine. Her combination of kidney beans, red peppers, sweet potatoes and sweetcorn is such a lovely one, I didn’t want to mess around with it. It makes for a quick, cheap and substantial meal that captures a little of the spirit of a Mexican mole with a lot less effort. This dish is filling enough to be served on its own but I paired it with brown rice, which just goes perfectly.
Vegetable Mole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves chopped finely or crushed
- 1 tablespoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 kg sweet potato chopped into 2cm chunks (roughly 2 medium sized ones)
- 2 red peppers chopped into 2cm chunks
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 x 400g tin kidney beans
- Salt and pepper
- 1 200 g can sweetcorn drained
- Juice of 1 lime plus lime wedges to serve
- 50 g pumpkin seeds for garnish
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander chopped
- Brown rice to serve
Method
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Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a wide, deep pan and add the diced onion. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until the onions have softened, but are not brown. Use this time to prep your veg.
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Add in the garlic, cumin, chilli powder and cayenne pepper. Lower the heat and fry for 1 more minute. Next, add in the sweet potato and red pepper. Give everything a good stir, then add in the tinned tomatoes, cocoa powder, bay leaves and kidney beans plus some salt and pepper. Fill one of the empty tomato tins with water and add this to the saucepan and stir again.
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Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and then turn down and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Take the lid off after about 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. Stir occasionally to stop the sauce sticking.
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Use this time to cook your rice.
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When the mole is ready, squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and stir in half the sweetcorn. Put the rest of the sweetcorn in a dish to serve alongside the mole.
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Garnish the mole with fresh coriander and pumpkin seeds and serve with lime wedges and brown rice. Alternatively you could put the lime wedges, coriander and pumpkin seeds in little dishes on the table alongside the sweetcorn and allow people to help themselves to the garnishes.
Want to see more Easy Peasy Vegetarian and Vegan recipes? Find more here…
Love Mexican food? Find lots more easy peasy Mexican inspired recipes here…
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I must admit that I’d never heard of a mole before (other than, as you say, the one that burrows under your lawn and is very cute!) so I was intrigued to learn more. For me it sounds delicious, but I can imagine that Mr E wouldn’t be on board with this one due to the spicing. I can I can imagine my folks going for it though, so it may well have to be one of those dishes I make with them.
Angela x
Ha, I thought the title might be intriguing!! The spicing is pretty delicate actually, just a little tingle…I’m the sort of person who can’t cope with anything stronger than a medium curry and this is nowhere near! Pretty much all the recipes I put on the site are checked by my kids who will accept spices but only if it’s fairly mild…this one passed! You could always reduce the quantities too. Let me know what you think if you try it! Thanks for all your lovely comments 🙂 Eb x
This looks lovely, my kind of meal
Thanks, Alison! Me too!! I love this kind of easy peasy one pot / 30 minutes type of cooking! Good for hectic evenings 🙂 Eb x
This looks lovely! Just the sort of thing we’d enjoy for a weeknight dinner. 🙂
Thanks, Helen. It’s a great one for a weeknight dinner: quick to make and not too much washing up! And if you make too much it’s great for lunch the next day 🙂 Eb x
This looks so good – and i reckon would adapt well to a slow cooker too! #cookblogshare
Thanks Lucy. Yes, I imagine it would adapt well to slow cooker cooking. Eb x
Mmm, This would be great for a tasty and light dinner. Pinning it for later.
Thanks Eileen. It’s really tasty and great for a quick midweek supper. Eb x
I love a good mole sauce – have made it and bought it and wish I had it more – so this simple recipe might be a good alternative – looks lovely
Thank you Johanna. Simplifying recipes is what I love to do! Eb x
Lovely recipe Eb. Perfect for winter and so fresh and healthy. Great mix of ingredients…… and so quick too! Love the pan pic!
And for once I’ve posted something gluten free! 🙂 It is a pretty awesome meal: healthy, easy and tasty! And as you say – perfect for winter. I just love this kind of food! Thanks for commenting 🙂 Eb x
Ooooh Eb, this looks so good! I must have a look at this book it sounds like it is full of delicious recipes. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
It’s a great book, Kirsty. Full of delicious, healthy recipes. Thanks for commenting 🙂 Eb x
Wow that looks delicious. Must try it! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
No worries. Thanks for hosting and for your lovely comments. It’s a really lovely recipe and very easy to make. A good one for a busy weeknight! Eb x
This is a lovely dish, filling and nutritious with just the right amount of spiciness, not harsh at all. As a vegetarian who eats fish (pescatarian) it was a very welcome change and I will come back to it again and again. I mixed in the rice to finish it off, I am not big on carbs so it was just a small helping. I will try it with bulgur wheat next time and maybe persuade my big, fat and ugly hubby (not really) to try it too.
Hi Val – thanks for this lovely comment! So pleased you liked this recipe 😀 I hope your hubby likes it too! Eb