Easy Vegetable Mole (Vegan)

5 from 3 votes

Made with sweet potatoes, red peppers, kidney beans and sweetcorn, this Vegetable Mole is a simplified, vegetarian version of a traditional Mexican Mole. Ready in just 30 minutes, it makes a great weeknight dinner! (Serves 8 with rice or 4 as a standalone dish.)

Course Main Course

Cuisine Fusion, Mexican

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 288kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion diced
4 garlic cloves grated or crushed
1 tablespoon cumin ground
1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (Or to taste, but go carefully - cayenne pepper is hot!)
1 kg sweet potato (roughly 2 medium sized ones) peeled and chopped into 2cm / ¾inch chunks
2 red peppers chopped into 2cm / ¾inch chunks
2 x 400 g tins chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 bay leaves
1 x 400 g tin kidney beans
Salt and pepper
1 x 200 g can sweetcorn drained
Juice of 1 lime plus lime wedges to serve
50 g pumpkin seeds for garnish (See Note 1)
2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
Brown rice or crusty bread to serve

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

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 3-5 minutes until the onions have softened, but are not brown. (Use this time to prep your veg!)
Add in the garlic, cumin, chilli powder and cayenne pepper. Lower the heat and fry for 1 more minute. (Add a splash of water if the pan gets too dry.)
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.
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.
Use this time to cook your rice. (The brand of brown rice I use takes 20 minutes to cook. You may need to start your rice off earlier if your brand takes longer.)
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.
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 let people to help themselves to the garnishes.

Notes

To make this dish even better, toast your pumpkin seeds. Simply place the pumpkin seeds on a small baking tray and place in an oven set to 120C / 100C fan / gas mark ½ / 250F for 5 minutes. Watch the pumpkin seeds like a hawk to make sure they don't accidentally burn!
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition