Cinco de Mayo!

I thought I'd go all-out for cinco de mayo this year. I made a chipotle seitan taco with a mango and red onion chutney, fried plantains, and a watermelon margarita. Ammmmmazing! Feel free to add more chopotle if you prefer it spicier.


You can use your own seitan, cut into strips, or buy pre-packaged/frozen seitan. If you're buying frozen and unfamilair with seitan products, Gardein is arguably the best in terms of taste and texture. However, you can use whatever you have.

I used a honey mango this time and I think it was a bit too sweet for the chutney. I normally use a regular mango and I think I like their level of sweetness better for this dish.

This dish makes enough for dinner for one person, or lunch for two.



Ingredients
Tacos:
2 seitan cutlets (each about the size of a chicken breast)
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into cubes
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp canola oil or vegan butter
avocado and vegan sour cream (optional)

Plantains:
1 ripe plantain, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 tbsp vegan butter

Cooking


Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and let melt. Once the butter ripples, add the plantains and let cook about 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are caramalized. You should be able to judge when they are ready by looking at the sides. The bottom half should look cooked, or a different color, than the top half (kinda like watching/telling when pancakes are ready to flip).

While the plantains cook, place aother frying pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of oil or butter. When the oil/butter ripples, add the onions and saute until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the mango and cook over low-medium heat for another 3-4 minutes until the onion is fully cooked and the mango is soft.

While this cooks down, mix the spices together and then rub them on both sides of the seitan. Cut each cutlet into 1/2 inch strips.

After the chutney has cooked, pour it into a bowl and return the pan to the stove. Add the last of the oil/butter over medium heat. Once the oil/butter ripples, add the seitan strips. The plantains should be ready to flip around this time as well, if you haven't flipped them already.

Let the seitan cook until brown and moist, about 5 minutes, then flip to the other side to cook. Once finished, remove them to a plate. The plantains should also be finished by now.

To assemble, put some seitan strips on a soft taco, top with the chutney, and add avocado, sour cream, or whatever other topping you prefer. These are also really good without anything else on top!

Leftovers make wonderful lunches for the next day, too.