Seitan Ancho Mole
I made a simpler version of Rick Bayless' red mole with a perfect balance of chocolate, nuts, chiles and spices. And once you actually make the sauce, the dinner part is simple.
Read more about this recipe at VeganYumYum.
Sauce Base:
5 ounces ripe tomatoes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ounces whole almonds
1 small onion, sliced
1/4 cup raisins
Scant 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate
2 slices bread, toasted
1 cup broth
Ancho Chile Sauce:
8 ancho or chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large pinch cumin
Scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 package (1 pound, 2 ounces) “Chicken Style” Seitan, drained
1 cup brown rice
1 cup frozen corn
Parsley or cilantro
prep: 45 minutes
total: 2 hours
roasting pan
2 bowls
food processor
dutch oven or high-sided saucepan
2 quart pot
1. Roast the tomatoes under a broiler until blackened on more than one side. Place in a bowl to cool. When cool, remove the skins and discard. Place tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor or blender.
2. While the tomatoes are roasting, remove the stems from the chiles. Slice open one side of each chile and remove the seeds and dried out inner membranes, discard. Place chiles in a bowl and cover in boiling water, let sit until softened. Drain.
3. While the chiles are softening, heat the oil in a large dutch oven or saucepan with high sides. Add almonds and sauté for about 3 minutes. Scoop out almonds and place them in the food processor bowl with the tomatoes.
4. Add onion to the pan and cook until brown, about 10 minutes. Remove to food processor bowl with the tomatoes and almonds. Add raisins to pan and watch for them to plump up, then remove from the pan add them to the food processor bowl. Turn off heat but leave pan on the stove with oil in the bottom.
5. Add the remaining “sauce base” ingredients to the food processor bowl (cinnamon, chocolate, bread and 1 cup broth). Blend until smooth. Remove from processor and set aside.
6. Add the “ancho chile sauce” ingredients into the food processor and blend until smooth. Strain with a medium sieve. Reheat your dutch oven and add the strained chile sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes until it darkens and thickens. Add the “sauce base” mixture that you prepared earlier to the chile sauce and mix well. Add the remaining broth. Strain sauce again to smooth it out. Add salt, sugar and earth balance. Simmer for 45 minutes, covered, on low.
7. Start your brown rice. Add seitan to a 2-quart pot and cover with 1/2 of the prepared sauce. Simmer on low, covered, for as long as it takes to cook the rice. A few minutes before the rice is done steaming, quickly remove the top of your pot or rice cooker and pour in frozen corn. Replace top.
8. When the rice is done, chop a handful of parsley or cilantro. Add to rice and lightly fluff with a fork. Plate rice, spoon seitan mole over the top, garnish with more parsley and serve immediately.
