Holy Mole
Evening, everyone! Did you have a good day? My Monday actually flew by!
After lunch, my mom called, so I took the dogs on a nice stroll while I caught up with her. She wanted to know all about the conference and Baltimore…I tried to fill her in! She was also coming from her first babysitting session with Sophie, all by herself. I guess she’s officially a grandma now!
After my walk with the dogs (about 45 minutes), Ryan came home from campus and we ran some errands together. I have a few packages that I wanted to mail out, but I wasn’t able to get them sent off today. Drat! I guess I’ll just have to try again tomorrow.
We returned home around 5:45 and did some work (my never-ending grade pile hasn’t shrunk very much in size, I’m afraid) until 6:30, when we headed downstairs to get started on dinner.
I don’t like to toot my own horn, but tonight’s dinner was a major success: Mole Tempeh.
Mole Sauce
Ingredients
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 dried chipotle pepper, soaked in very hot water for 30 minutes, then chopped
Directions
In a pan, heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add bell peppers and cook for another 10 minutes. Add spices (cumin through cocoa) and lime juice and cook for another five minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chopped chipotle pepper.
Bring sauce to a boil, then cook uncovered for another 5 minutes. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
Mole!
We served our mole sauce with oven-baked tempeh (sprayed with a bit of olive oil and cooked for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven) and Near East Spanish Rice pilaf (beefed up with some frozen corn kernels), garnished with avocado slices.
Dinner:
This sauce was so good! It would be great with tofu (or chicken, if you aren’t veg), or even in a bean burrito. Mmmmm hmmmm.
As I cooked, I sipped on this rose wine (from a juice glass, because classy girls drink pink wine from juice glasses, right?):
I also snacked on some tortilla chips. Totally necessary.
Hope you’re having a great night! See you tomorrow!
I rocked Taste the Rainbow today…feels good to be back on the color train!
![Rainbow3-22[1]](http://newlywednewlyveg.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/rainbow3221.jpg "Rainbow3-22[1]")
That looks good. For some reason, I can’t seem to get myself to like tempeh. But I would definitely try this with tofu.
I am not the biggest mole girl and it’s been 5 yrs since i made some tofu but as you saw, i just did. so do you LOVE your tofu press? or just “fine”. I think that it could be the key to restaurant/WF style tofu…thoughts please! xox
Hey Averie,
I do love my tofu press! It basically gets the tofu to the same consistency that pressing with multiple paper towels would for hours, but without ANY of that mess. It made the tofu very “restaurant-like” when I pressed it for over 5 hours…when I just pressed it for an hour, it was still great, but not quite as chewy (like the kinds I’ve had at WF).
I’d definitely recommend it for a tofu lover…but I know that you only eat tofu once a month (if that), so I can understand not wanting to pay for something you’ll only use every once in a while.
I’m always looking for new tofu ideas and I do love me some mole sauce…
i love your mole recipe! this one looks totally do-able, as opposed to my cousin’s which apparently takes 3 days…
Three days?!? Wowza!
I dont think Ive ever had mole anything. The closest thing thats entered my mouth was the Cocoa Mole Larabar (Ew!). Im a huge fan of taking the dogs for a walk while I chat on the phone. All about multitasking!
lol– I don’t like that Larabar flavor either
You did rock the rainbow! That mole sauce sounds WONDERFUL! And that avocado looks perfect! Almost fake it looks so perfect!
Oh girl, that sounds amazing!!! I’ve always wanted to try a Mole but it seemed so intimidating!
Mole is my absolute favorite and I’m excited to try out your recipe, thanks for sharing!
WOW that looks soo great! ive never had mole! LOVE yo colors, as always!!
This looks SO good…love how perfect the avocado presentation is too.
Do you really get nervous in front of every class? How do you do that every day? I’d be a nervous wreck!!
Yep, I do! After the first two or three minutes of talking, I’m fine, but the first few minutes, I’m ALWAYS nervous…I figure it’s good for me
You sure did rock the rainbow!!! That dinner looks so good! I’ve never made mole sauce before but it’s always intrigued me… Love wine in juice glasses
I’ve been majorly craving Mexican while traveling Down Under and this is making me want to reach through the computer and grab your dinner!
Looks awesome.
Great sauce, and GOOD CALL on the tempeh! Oh how I adore that stuff now
You know how Dad loves mole! I guess I’ll be making that sauce tonight! It looks so good!!
looks SO good!, but I cannot stomach tempeh, I have tried so many times it just doesnt sit well with me…I would be ALL over taht with tofu though!
Here’s to Mexican Monday! I’ve never made or even tried mole. Definitely need to give this one a shot. Thanks for sharing. Maybe this will be next Monday’s Mexican Monday Meal.
I love mole…this looks fabulous!! And…I LOVE the wine in the juice glass…totally perfect!
I’ve never had a mole before. I really should try it.
Ooh I’ve been wanting to make some mole with enchiladas, added to the list! Your dish looks amazing
yum! i love mole, but i’ve been too scared to attempt making it on my own! such a deep complex flavor…..yum!
Holy mole, this looks great! I’m always looking for ways to shake up my favorite foods (like tempeh), so I’m bookmarking this right now
Toot away girlfriend. That dinner looks fabulous. And Dan in Real Life really was a pleasant surprise. I’ve always wanted a family who hung out and did cool stuff like play instruments and have group workout sessions.
Oh i DEFINITELY need a tofu press! I WASTE SO MUCH PAPER TOWEL!!!!!!
S
That looks great, nice pics and I need to try a raw version of the sauce!