Vegan Chopped: Minted Black eyed pea tacos with Blackberry Mole

Vegan Chopped Challenge Accepted! Make an entree using four secret ingredients: bittersweet chocolate; blackeyed peas; mint; blackberries.

I had a hard time deciding what to prepare for the Vegan Chopped Challenge posed on facebook by the Post Punk Kitchen. Eventually, I kept going back to the idea of making mole and it just felt right. In the end, I'm so glad I went with that decision as it was not only fun to make and smelled amazing during the cooking process, but it also tasted great and looked beautiful. The blackberries added such an amazing color dimension that I've never seen in other mole sauces. The minted black eyed pea tacos is such a great compliment to the sauce. The freshness of the mint nicely rounds out the spicy smokiness of the sauce, adding almost a cooling effect in your mouth. YUM!

Minted Black Eyed Pea Tacos with Blackberry Mole
The first step to make mole is to misenplace your ingredients.

2 dates, pits removed, soaked in one cup water (reserve soaking liquid) 
1 T almonds
2 T pumpkin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 T olive oil 
2 T shallots, diced
1/2 C yellow onion, diced
1/2 C canned diced tomatoes
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 C fresh blackberries (about 10 to 12 berries)
1.5 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used 65% cocoa)

Toast pumpkin seeds and almonds in a medium sized pan for about 2 minutes, until they start to get toasty, then add herbs and spices and toast for an additional 30 seconds until fragrant, being careful not to burn any of the ingredients.

Put the nut and spice mix in a blender and grind to a fine powder.

 
In the same pan, over medium heat, pour in olive oil, then add onion and shallot. Sautee for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften, then add garlic and cook another minute or two. Add tomatoes to deglaze the pan. Simmer for another five to seven minutes, until everything is tender.

Add onion and tomato mixture to the blender, along with chipotles, blackberries, dates, and blend on low speed, adding water little by little to keep the mixture moving. Continue blending and adding water until smooth.

Return blended mixture to your pan and simmer over low heat. Add squares of chocolate, one by one and stir to melt. Taste and adjust seasoning, or add more chocolate or water, if necessary for desired texture and flavor.

Set mole aside and prepare beans.

Drain and rinse one can of black eyed peas. Add to a small sauce pan and cover with water so they can heat but not become dry or mushy. Season with salt and pepper. I chose to keep the seasoning simple, but you can add in other herbs and spices if you'd like (cumin, coriander, etc). Drain and re-season if necessary. Chiffonade fresh mint and toss in with drained peas.

Heat soft tortillas for pliability. I do this by putting them over the flame of the stove for about 20 seconds on each side.
Fill tortillas with beans and desired veggies and other ingredients. I added steamed broccoli.  Drizzle filling with mole sauce. Alternately, you can mix the sauce in with the beans for a really intense burst of mole in every bite. Sprinkle with more mint if you'd like!

 

ENJOY!