Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato, topped with Fermented Salsa

Fermented salsa is more pungent and deeply flavorful compared to fresh salsa and also contains a ton of additional nutrients, a byproduct of the lacto-fermentation process.   (Just to clarify, lacto-fermentation has nothing to do with milk or lactose, it simply refers to the process by which a certain class of bacteria, that are naturally present on the surface of most plants, convert sugars into lactic acid).  In his wonderful book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, Sandor Katz, the fermentation guru, talks about fermenting all kinds of vegetables with this method (a basic example is sauerkraut).

So here’s the recipe for Fermented Tomato Salsa, loosely adapted from Mastering Fermentation: Recipes for Making and Cooking with Fermented Foods by Mary Karlin.
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

• 4 medium tomatoes, diced (do not use canned)
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 5-6 Thai green chilies or Serrano chilies, chopped fine (adjust based on how spicy you like it, or alternately use 1/2 medium bell pepper diced)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped fine
• 1 tsp salt
• Pinch brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp raw organic apple cider vinegar (use one with live mother cultures like Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar)
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Method:

• Make sure the cutting board and knife are clean and dry before starting.  Also wash all the vegetables you are using and dry with a clean kitchen towel before chopping.  
• Check the salsa every day.  If you see mold forming on top, discard and start again, maybe using a bit more salt.  This did not happen to me but is a possibility.
• As I noted in an earlier post, I am not a big fan of having specialized gadgets but a Serrated Tomato Knife makes life a lot easier when dicing tomatoes.
• Since V and I like it spicy, I used spicy Thai green chilies but feel free to omit altogether and just use bell pepper or jalapeno pepper for a milder taste.
• The fermentation produces a lot of delicious pungent liquid which can be strained and used in other recipes, for eg. in the enchiladas below.

Vegan enchiladas with sweet potato filling, topped with fermented salsa

V and I were gobbling the salsa by the spoonfuls, it was that addictive!  But I had enough left over on Sunday for making vegan enchiladas topped with the spicy fermented salsa.  Here’s the recipe.

• 1/2 cup black, red or pinto beans, rinsed and soaked overnight (optionally, add a tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar when soaking)
• 2 small or 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bell pepper diced
• 1 cup shredded greens of any kind (I used collard greens from the garden)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 Tbsp of fermented salsa juice
• Salt to taste

• Store bought corn tortillas, around 6 to 10
• 2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil for shallow frying

• Drain the soaking liquid.  Boil enough water in a pot, add the beans and bring it back to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the beans are soft and set aside
• Cook the sweet potato until soft and set aside
• Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and add the onion
• When onion becomes a bit translucent, add the bell pepper and garlic and cook for around 5-7 mins until fragrant.
• Add the greens, cover and let it wilt, around 3 mins  
• Add the cooked beans and sweet potato and the spices, salsa juice and salt
• Cover and cook for around 5 mins on low heat and switch off

• Preheat the oven to 350F
• Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry all the corn tortillas until slightly crisp on the edges and well cooked and set aside
• In a large casserole dish, start assembling the enchiladas: Spoon about 2-3 Tbsp of the filling in to each tortilla, roll and place in the casserole dish and repeat until the dish is full
• Spoon some salsa juice over the tortillas especially on the crisp edges
• Bake for 15 mins

Assembling the vegan enchiladas

• Spoon fermented salsa on to the enchiladas and top with cashew sauce before serving

Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato topped with Fermented Salsa

V and I really enjoyed the Sunday brunch, the highlight being the tasty fermented salsa.  In fact we just about finished the whole bottle in a day.  I am not sure if it is traditional to ferment salsa (do comment if you know), but it certainly makes it very addictive!