Lentil Molotes with Green Tomato Sauce

Back to the library for inspiration on this one. I picked up Diana Kennedy's From My Mexican Kitchen, which is an informative catalog of ingredients and techniques for traditional Mexican food. Kennedy is apparently a master of the craft. The book is not remotely vegan, but helpful and interesting, with some mouth-watering recipes. I used up some of my green tomatoes as substitutes for tomatillos in this sauce. That may be a problem for traditionalists, but was good enough for me. The tomatoes were cooked just until soft, and added with green chilis, garlic, onion, and cilantro (all raw) to the blender. When I lifted the lid after a thorough puree, the chilis and garlic had me very close to tears - the smell was overpowering, but in a way that had me fired up to use this in a meal. I used some sauce essentially raw, which was very hot. I simmered some of the sauce on the stovetop, which mellowed out the garlic, onion, and chilis substantially. I think I've decided what to do with the load of green tomatoes in my garden that aren't going to ripen before the freeze - a great sauce for canning.

Molotes are made by encasing a filling with a corn masa dough. A molote has a specific shape - sort of an elongated football - which distinguishes it from the array of other stuffed corn masa foods in Mexican cooking. I used a mixture of lentils and walnuts (inspired by the walnut taco filling on the My Vegan Spoons blog -thanks!), seasoned with lime, cumin, ancho chili powder, and roasted garlic, for the filling. After a quick spin in the food processor, the mix makes an awesome taco/enchilada/whatever filling. The molotes are fried in a whole lot of canola oil, until golden brown on all sides. The ultra-spicy sauce is the perfect counterpoint to the rich, warm flavors of the fried corn dough and lentil-walnut filling. The combo was topped with a sprinkle of fresh lime juice and some shredded cilantro.