Vegan MoFo Day 6: Tester Arepas!

It's Day 6 of Vegan MoFo, or the Vegan Month of Fooooooood! I want to talk about being a tester for Terry Hope Romero's upcoming cookbook, Vegan Latina. I was so honored and excited when I found out I was going to test for her next cookbook! With amazing cookbooks like Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and Veganomicon under her belt, Terry lives up to her reputation with this collection of Latin-inspired recipes. From tamales and empanadas to horchata and dulce de leche, all the recipes in this collection are authentic yet innovative and are full of flavor. I have learned a ton of new techniques, such as tamale-making, while testing for this cookbook! And I love learning new things! When this comes out, do not hesitate to get it! This will be an essential to any good vegan's cookbook collection.

Tonight for dinner, I made a new test recipe: Venezuelan Oyster Mushroom and Pimento Arepas. Yes, it's as good as it sounds!! Arepas are similar to corn tortillas, but are smaller in diameter and much thicker, as they are used for stuffing full of good stuff. This arepa filling is a saute of onion, garlic, pimentos (the jarred red peppers), oyster mushrooms, and spices, then layered in the arepa pocket with fresh avocado slices. Yum!!

Salty, chewy, creamy, spicy, tangy, savory.....and most importantly, messy! These are like little sandwiches, except better. They make an awesome lunch or dinner and are really a stand-alone dish, which make prep and clean up easy! Bonus! I have made one other arepa tester recipe, which was filled with a tempeh-jicama-veganaise-avocado filling...I can't decide which one I like more...I guess I'll just have to eat both of them! A lot!!