Recipe: Vegetable Casserole in Uncooked Chile Sauce

VEGETABLE CASSEROLE IN UNCOOKED CHILE SAUCE
Source: The Mexican Gourmet: Authentic Ingredients and Traditional Recipes from the Kitchens of Mexico by Maria Dolores Torres Yzabal, Shelton Wiseman, Jose N. Iturriaga
Servings: 10

Adobo is a chile-based sauce usually used for marinating or cooking meat, or sometimes fish. Here the sauce is actually never cooked (hence the name adobo crudo) and is served on cooked vegetables. This recipe is from the writer and novelist Jorge Lopaz Paez from Huatuzco, Veracruz, where the refreshing dish, served at room temperature, is eaten during the hottest months of the year.

6 oz green beans, strings removed and cut in half
13 oz chayote (vegetable pear/choko), peeled, cut in half to remove core, and cut into 1/8-inch slices
14 oz fresh peas, shelled
14 oz potatoes, peeled and sliced
FOR FRITTERS:
10 oz carrots, peeled and sliced
1 egg
1 tablespoon queso anejo or dry feta cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
FOR THE CHILE SAUCE:
2 1/2 ancho chiles, stems removed, seeded, deveined, toasted briefly over direct flame, and soaked
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar
Pinch ground cumin
3 1/2 queso anejo or dry feta cheese, crumbled
1 onion halved and sliced

Cook the green beans, chayote, peas, and potatoes seperately in boiling, salted water until tender.

FOR FRITTERS:
Puree the carrots in a blender with the egg, cheese, and salt to taste. Remove to a bowl and mix in the flour. Using your hands, form 10 flattish, round fritters with the mixture and fry in the oil over high heat for approximately 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Place the chiles in a blender with the water, vinegar, cumin, and salt, and blend until very smooth.

In an oiled serving dish approximately 10x6x2-inches, layer the potatoes, chayote, green beans, carrot, fritters, and peas. Cover with half the chile sauce, repeat the layers, and finish with the remaining sauce.

Garnish with the cheese and onion, and serve.