Straight from the Earth

BUTTERNUT SQUASH, BLACK BEAN, and KALE TAMALES with SPICY TOMATILLO SALSA

I first tried tamales, a traditional dish in certain parts of Latin America, when I traveled to Mexico as a teenager. But it wasn’t until I was living in a vegan cooperative house in college that I learned to make them. One Sunday, my friends and I spent the entire day creating tamales to serve sixty people for a communal meal, and since then they are one of my favorite dishes to cook.

Tamales are made from steamed or boiled masa (a starchy corn dough) wrapped around a filling of meats, cheese, or vegetables. This recipe is not as heavy as meat-based tamales, but tempeh and beans provide ample protein. Anyone can help assemble tamales, and the long prep time makes them even more satisfying and special when you finally sit down to eat. If you don’t have a whole day to devote to tamale making, you can prepare the masa and the filling up to 3 days ahead. They cook faster and more evenly in two separate steamer pots; borrow an extra pot if you have only one. They also freeze extremely well—so don’t worry about making too many. Serve the tamales with my easy Spicy Tomatillo Salsa or your favorite store-bought fresh tomatillo salsa. —MAREA

Serves 8 to 12; makes about 24 tamales

MASA DOUGH

4¹/₂ cups/630 g instant corn masa flour (Maseca is a popular brand)

2¹/₂ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sweet paprika

2³/₄ cups/660 ml Easy Vegetable Stock (page 76) or low-sodium vegetable broth

1 cup/240 ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

FILLING

¹/₄ cup/60 ml canola or sunflower oil

¹/₂ medium yellow onion, small dice

1¹/₂ cups/210 g peeled small-dice butternut squash

1¹/₂ cups/180 g diced or crumbled tempeh (see page 45)

3 cups/90 g packed stemmed and sliced dino (Tuscan) kale

1²/₃ cups/285 g cooked black beans (rinsed and drained if canned)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

¹/₂ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¹/₂ tsp red pepper flakes

¹/₂ tsp sweet paprika

¹/₂ tsp cayenne pepper

1 package (about 30) dried cornhusks

Spicy Tomatillo Salsa (facing page)

To make the masa dough: Whisk together the masa flour, salt, baking powder, cumin, garlic powder, and paprika in a medium bowl. Add the stock, olive oil, and lime juice. Mix with clean hands until thoroughly combined. The masa should be about the texture of cookie dough. Set aside if you plan to assemble the tamales within 2 hours, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

To make the filling: Warm the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until it becomes translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the squash and tempeh, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until the squash softens, about 6 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the kale, beans, cumin, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika, and cayenne. Sauté until the kale has wilted and is tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside, or let cool and keep it in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days.

When you are ready to assemble the tamales, soak the cornhusks in a very large bowl of warm water, making sure they are completely submerged for at least 5 minutes, or until they are softened. Place a large clean dishtowel on the countertop for soaking up the extra liquid from the cornhusks.

Take one large husk (see Note, below), shaking off the excess liquid, and place it on the dishtowel with the wide end at the top. Scoop out a scant ¹/₄ cup/60 ml of masa, and spread it down the middle of the husk with your fingertips. The masa should be spread as thinly as possible, about 2¹/₂ by 2¹/₂ in/6 by 6 cm, in the shape of a circle or square. Make sure to leave at least 1 in/2¹/₂ cm of husk uncovered on the top end and at least 2 in/5 cm uncovered on the bottom, narrow end.

Place 3 tbsp of filling in the middle of the masa, closer to the top edge.

Fold one side of the cornhusk over the other, forming a tube around the filling and sealing both sides of the masa together. Fold the bottom edge over the seam where the two sides of the cornhusk overlap. Set aside, folded-side down, and repeat.

To cook the tamales, set a steamer insert into a large pot. Use two steamer pots if possible (the farther apart the tamales are in the pot, the quicker they will cook). Pour hot water into the pot so that it comes up to the bottom of the steamer, but not above.

Line the bottom and sides of the steamer with several of the softened cornhusks. This will prevent water from bubbling up and soaking the tamales as they cook.

Arrange the tamales by standing them up at a slight angle, so that they lean against the side of the pot, with the open ends of the tamales facing up. Cover the pot with a lid (or invert a stainless steel bowl over the pot).

Steam the tamales over medium-low heat for 90 minutes if using two pots, or 2 hours if using one pot, adding more water as needed every 20 or 30 minutes. Be sure to add the water in a manner that does not wet the tamales. Using a knife or cake spatula, push aside the tamales to create a small opening into which you can pour the water. Be careful of the hot steam when you remove the lid. The tamales are cooked when the masa is firm to the touch and does not stick to the cornhusk when opened. Serve them hot with tomatillo salsa.

NOTE: If the cornhusks are too small to spread the masa 2¹/₂ in/6 cm wide, you can create a larger one by using two cornhusks. Simply place two husks side by side, overlapping by 1 in/2¹/₂ cm.