Tamales from Living Light Institute

We love mex-tex food. We used this recipe using romaine leaves instead of using corn husks.

Tamales

Author: Cherie Soria

Recipe Type: Entree

Cuisine: Raw Vegan

Serves: 12 small tamales

Ingredients

• 12 Corn Husks
• Corn Masa
• 3 cups corn from the cob, or frozen
• 1½ cups cashews or blanched almonds, soaked
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 1½ teaspoons Himalayan crystal salt
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup ground white almond flour (made from blanched almonds)
• ¼ cup mesquite powder, we used 2TBS lucuma powder
• 
  
• Tamale Filling
• ¾ cup finely diced zucchini
• ⅜ cup ground macadamia nuts
• 3 tablespoons finely diced dried porcini or crimini mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons finely minced red onion
• 2 tablespoons Mexican chili powder
• 1½ tablespoons finely minced celery
• 1½ tablespoons dried mango, soaked and minced
• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne

Instructions

1. If using dried corn husks, soak the husks in warm water and set aside to soften.
2. Blend the corn and cashews with the seasonings in a food processor until smooth.
3. Add the almond flour and mesquite powder and combine well.
4. Using a ½-cup measure, create small oblong corn masa cakes, about ¼-inch deep, on a non-stick dehydrator sheet. Place them in a dehydrator set at 135 degrees for 1 hour. (This short amount of time will not harm the enzymes or nutrients in the food.) Turn the cakes over, reduce the temperature to 115 and continue dehydrating for another 30 minutes.
5. Combine ingredients for the filling and mix well.
6. To assemble the tamales, remove the corn masa cakes from the dehydrator and create a small indentation in the center. Place 1½ tablespoons of the filling into the indentation and fold some of the corn cake mixture from each side to (nearly) cover the filling. Place the tamales back in the dehydrator set at 115 degrees F for 30 minutes.
7. To serve the tamales, drain and towel dry the optional corn husks. Place the tamales in the center of a corn husk.
8. Serve the tamales warm, with Mole Sauce over the top.