Vegetarian Cuban Recipe

[karmen24]

This may sound a bit odd, but I would like to make a Cuban dish using some sort of faux meat. Does anyone have any good recipes?

[wowimadog]

how about picadillo using yves veggie cuisine's "the good ground" instead of beef?

[ozzygee]

This probably belongs on antother board, but what they heck, these are historically SoCal brands so....

What kind of meat texture does the recipe require? Ground, cubed, shredded? The first two are no problem, but the last one is pretty much impossible to mimic with meat substitute.

Morningstar's ground beef substitute is dead-on in terms of texture.
They also sell steak strips or you can probably use extra firm tofu for the cubed meat substitute.

http://www.morningstarfarms.com/cgi-b...

[cincodemayo1]

I'd imagine this is hard to do replicating meats, but there are a ton of cuban dishes, sans meat.

Actually, I'm thinking Shrimp Creolle might be really good with with tofu instead of shrimp. Check into that one.

Beans and rice and plantains are always veg.

Does Morningstar have fake sliced meats? Like deli style? You could probably make a decent media noche or cuban sandwich.

I'm a big fan of vaca frita and ropa vieja, but I imagine those are near impossible to do with tofu.

Good luck.

[ozzygee]

Worthington/Loma Linda brand does carry slices of fake meat but not ham and certainly not lechon.

I'm curious to know what the OP is making.

[ladelfa]

Don't bother with tofu, or any of that stuff you get from the freezer at Vons. Hie on over to Bodhi Vegetarian Supply in Rosemead (Valley, half block east of San Gabriel Blvd). They have everything you need there to fake any meat dish you can think of. There's vegetarian shrimp and like eight different kinds of ham. I recommend the one that comes presliced in a 5-pound loaf (it's the one that's square in cross-section). Yeah, they intend you to make Chinese dishes with it, but that's not gonna keep you from recontextualizing it when you get home.

[tannazie]

I know the whole idea of cuban sandwich is the pork, but what if you made it with sliced grilled portobello mushrooms instead? won't be the same, but with pickles and melty swiss cheese, i'm sure it would be delicious. (correct me if i'm blaspheming =)

[Robert Lauriston]

Most Cuban meat dishes involve long, slow cooking, so I'm not sure what you could substitute that would be at all similar. Maybe arroz con pollo with soy "sausages" and "chicken."

Why not make moros y cristianos? That's a great vegetarian dish.

[Smokey]

Moros y cristianos, served with some platanos on the side. Mmmmmm.

[Robert Lauriston]

Tostones! and a bowl of mojo sauce. Probably want some yucca seca in there, too.

Most cubans were and are poor, and the peasant food is mostly vegetarian.

[wowimadog]

you can make picadillo using yves brand "the good ground," instead of beef.