One of my favorite places in Mexico is the charming town of Morelia where we once spent a few days doing almost nothing. Nothing, except taking lazy strolls on streets dotted with devout Mexicans and students. Morelia is packed with beautiful churches and colleges, and if you’re not inclined to one or attending the other, the only thing you can pretty much do is walk around and eat. Luckily, Morelia has some surprisingly trendy restaurants and many of these are vegan friendly. There even was an all-vegetarian restaurant in the city which was an unexpected but welcome treat. You could sit outdoors at a table with a great view of the main street and watch the world go by, or you could listen to one of the many street entertainers who tended to stop by ever so often with a song. Every morning, Desi and I would make our way to one of those restaurants, situated right across the street from the town’s centerpiece: a huge pink-stone cathedral with majestic twin towers. I was hooked to one breakfast dish that, although not vegan, was easily veganized for me by the friendly staff: Molletes. Molletes are Mexican sandwiches – usually open faced– made of crusty bread, like a bolillo, smeared with refried beans and topped with cheese and pico de gallo salsa. The first time I had it, I asked the waitress to hold the queso and the sandwich was so good that I never thought I’d eat anything else again. The reason why Molletes are so tasty despite being so simple is because of all those textures and flavors coming together in a perfect marriage. You have the crusty bolillo with its pillowy crumb, the velvety refried beans with just that right bite of spice, and the salsa with its fresh, vibrant flavors. I had been wanting to share with you my own version of Mexican Molletes, which I make rather traditionally except that I used a mango-basil salsa this time instead of tomato salsa. It was divine. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
I have a recipe for the perfect Bolillos on the blog, but because I wanted this to be a perfectly healthy snack, I repurposed by Sourdough Baguette into wholegrain bolillos for my Moletes. Try it out: you will not be disappointed. Or just buy some baguettes – or any crusty bread– from the bakery. Enjoy!
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Vegan Refried Beans Bolillo Rolls (Mexican Bread Rolls) Mexican Potato and Bean Cakes with Tomato Sauce Mexican Green Rice Mexican Tofu with Apricots, Chipotle and Tamarind
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