by Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD, CSSD, CCMS, LMHC, FAND @The Running Nutritionist®
Fullei Fresh Chef Ambassador
*RECIPES BELOW*
May is for sunshine and roses, preparing delicious dishes for the special “moms” in your life.
While Mother’s Day has passed, my dad used to say every day is Mother’s Day honoring those who brought us or raised us in this world. Some of you may have moms, who, while are not biological moms are special ladies who cared for you, made sure you were fed and dressed, and on time for school when you were growing up, maybe a nanny or babysitter. They may have even also been your teachers who we are eternally grateful for after this very challenging year for them.
Maybe you even married that “mom”, the woman you know will always be there for you in better or worse. The best thing you can do in honor of them is to say thank you by sharing something you prepared yourself! How about this month’s simply delicious nutritious recipes?
Let’s have a little fun and pick up the culinary tempo from Taco Tuesdays to Totally Awesome Tamales, perfect with a little kick from Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprouts. I love tamales because you can use your creative and desired tastes to take the tamale in a savory, sweet, healthy or not as healthy direction based on its ingredients, fat sources and seasonings. Either way tamales always look impressive and cool when served and are fun to unwrap and eat! Our Fullei Fresh Tamales are the best of both worlds.
Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprouts are a mix of alfalfa, clover and radish sprouts. They give a high note to any salad, wrap, soup topping and/or hummus. Uber rich in protein, fiber, antioxidants and electrolytes, just in time to fortify our diets with the vitamins and minerals that help us thrive and survive in the soon to be summer heat.
Let’s get Spicy!
Tamales are an “old school” comfort food, gifted to us by the Mexicans and Guatemalans 8000-5000 BC years ago! Tamales are a portable meal the Aztecs and Mayas used for eating on the run! Americans and caught on early on after they were featured at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
They are super easy and fun to prepare, and just like smoothies, you can customize your own tamale.
Ours is vegan but traditional versions incorporate pork, meat, chicken, vegetables. One staple in common, they always start out with masa, the cornmeal mix and then you take it from there!
Water and masa flour is all you need to get started. Then In our version, I toast and crush whole large corn kernels for crunch; I also add toasted minced garlic. I give it a traditional kick with a combo of chili olive oil, farm fresh chilies, and make a chili sauce with black beans, tomato sauce, cumin, chopped purple onion, garlic and Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprouts.
The masa comes 1st, 1:1 ¼ ratio of masa to water, mix then start; your add ins-could be diced veggies, small chunks of meat or meat free sausage for vegetarians. Seasonings and spices are a must especially the Spicy Sprouts and Chilies.
In the meantime, buy packaged or pull corn husks off fresh corn and soak, make sure they are soft enough to wrap the masa mix by soaking for 2 hours or overnight, use cooking twine to tie the tamale package and voila! You can also use large leaves like Hoja Santa, popular in SoFlo or Turmeric leaves, both work well.
With Tamales, I serve them with a crunchy fresh Wax Jambu Salsa.
The cool veggies are in season now. I pick Wax Jambu right here in Homestead. These magenta colored Asian fruit are crunchy like a pear, jicama stick or chayote and takes on the flavor of its environment and seasonings. You can use to expand the flavor and volume of dishes without the calories, like how sprouts are great for feeling full and satisfied after mealtime. It’s a perfect base for the tomatoes, onions, chilies and Spice Mix Sprouts. You can even chop up mandarins or mangos in season for a sweet high note.
For the finale, I grilled a watermelon slice to create a charred sweet taste to complement the rest of the dishes.
Enjoy!
Vegan Tamales with a Spicy Twist!
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
The Base:
1 ¼ cup water
1 cup masa harina
1 tsp chili infused oil
4 cups masa harina
1 cup choclo Desoranado Jumbo corn—seared on stove top until browned. cool
5 cloves garlic toasted (reserve 2 for filling)
1/2 small purple onion (diced)
Bell pepper, ½ mini red, ½ mini yellow, diced and toasted.
½ cup Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprouts
Husks from fresh corn or store-bought husks to wrap tamales.
Red Chili Sauce Filling
Ingredients:
½ onion, diced, sauté until brown.
½ cup pinto beans, organic, prepared from dry or canned unsalted.
3 small fresh or dried chili pods preferable from fresh, crushed - Serrano, Poblano, Asian Thai, Scotch Bonnet, your call for your desired heat level.
1 tomato (diced)
1 pinch locally sourced scotch bonnet chili powder
½ cup Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprouts
Sea Salt to taste
Method:
1. Preparing masa by adding hot water to flour. Mix.
2. Crush the toasted corn kernels and mix in.
3. Crush the toasted garlic cloves and mix in.
4. Put mix in the food processor until blended. Add Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprouts and blend until still visible.
5. Set masa mix aside until Red chili sauce filling is prepared.
6. Sauté onion until brown. Add beans until cooked. Add chili peppers, diced tomato, chili pepper. Cook until well blended and reduced to be somewhat thick.
7. Add Fullei Fresh Spicy Spouts.
To Make Tamales:
1. Take 1 heaping spoon masa mix and spread on corn husk.
2. Take Red Chili sauce filling and spread on the center of the masa mix.
3. Roll the husk, take your string and tie horizontally, then take the string along the elongated side, fold ends in and tie in the middle where the original “tamale seat belt” is.
4. I use an Instapot and steam the tamales for 20 minutes and they come out to perfection, ready to eat! You can alternatively use a boiling pot of water and steam the tamales in a steamer in a pot for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Serve with fresh veggies, Wax Jambu Salsa and Grilled Watermelon for dessert!
Wax Jambu Salsa
Ingredients:
Serves 6
5 wax apples, diced to desire.
1 cup shallots & purple onions, diced to desire.
Chilies, 1 serrano, 1 poblano miniature diced
½ red, ½ yellow, diced to desired chunk.
2 tbls fresh mint, finely minced
1 tsp lemon infused oil
Handful Fullei Fresh Spicy Sprout Mix
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
Optional: 2 chopped Cuties or ¼ mango for additional vitamins and sweet peak!
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
Meet Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD, CSSD, CCMS, LMHC, FAND
@TheRunningNutritionist
Known internationally as The Running Nutritionist®, Lisa is an award-winning leader to industry, academia, the public & press for more than 3 decades. Lisa has built a global integrative culinary sports nutrition & performance private practice & corporate consulting business working with Olympian athletes, and prestigious luxury resorts such as Ritz Carlton, Sandals & Norwegian Cruise Lines. Lisa designs, writes, and speaks about delicious dishes, menus and diets and travels worldwide sharing the “gospel” of good food, fresh tastes, and plant-based cuisine. Her passion for food, fitness, emotional balance and for life is contagious.
A ’19 President’s Council National Excellence in Practice Award Recipient, Lisa is a Licensed Nutritionist/ Registered Dietitian, Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, Board Certified Professional Counselor, Certified Chef, Certified USAT&F & USA Triathlon Coach, Certified Reiki Practitioner, Certified Horticulturist & Fellow of The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. She served as the ’08 US Sailing Olympic Team Nutritionist for Beijing Olympics & Nutrition Expert for the Zumba Plate® program.
Her recipes are inspired by collaborations with some of the top chefs at Sandals Resorts, Ritz Carlton, Culinary Vegetable Institute/Chef’s Garden; restaurants, spas, wellness/fitness-focused programs as instructor at Johnson and Wales University & Miami Culinary Institute, & member of prestigious organizations such as Les Dames d ‘Escoffier, American Culinary Foundation, and the James Beard Foundation. She is Chef Alliance Director for Slow Food Miami.
The author of 8 books, Lisa has appeared on 20/20, Dateline, Good Morning America Health, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC and ESPN & has been featured in numerous publications including: USA Today, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Men’s Fitness, Outside & Runners World magazines. In her spare time, Lisa has competed in more than 35 marathons (PR 2:52:32), Ironman USA Lake Placid, and hundreds of running and multisport races and was a member of TeamUSA at the ’04 World Long Distance Duathlon Championships.