Vegan Bandeja Paisa. Esta receta también está disponible en español.
Bandeja Paisa is one of Colombia’s most famous dishes. The name stems from the region where the plate is originally from. A paisa is a person coming from the department of Antioquia, (although some also include the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindio). Bandeja means platter, due to the big plate that is used to serve the dish.
Bandeja Paisa
And the big platter is necessary, because of the huge amount of food that this dish contains. A traditional bandeja paisa consists of different sources of animal protein. Ground beef (carne molida), chicharrón and two types of sausages (chorizo and morcilla). It also contains frijoles (beans), white rice, fried ripe plantain, a fried egg, an arepa and avocado.
Bandeja Paisa received its name in the 1950s, but different variants of this dish are older than that. It comes from the time that the paisa people needed many calories to do physically demanding work. Nowadays it is a popular dish in Colombian or Paisa restaurants, and luckily you can order half a portion!
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Vegan Bandeja Paisa
Ordering a vegan or vegetarian bandeja paisa outside touristy areas is a fun process. Because why would you want to leave out the best parts, the animal protein? To me a dish containing beans, rice, arepa, plantain, avocado (and a fried egg) is a complete meal. Protein comes from the beans and the egg, if eating. There is an overload of carbs. Some healthy fats from the avocado. Not many greens, so maybe not too healthy, but delicious every now and then. But just leaving out the animal protein and calling it a vegan bandeja paisa is the lazy way out.
In this recipe I replace the animal protein with different vegan protein sources. I serve it with the traditional components frijoles (beans), rice, plantain, arepa, and avocado. The vegetarians can add a fried egg to it.
Vegan replacements
Instead of animal protein I use vegan chorizo (sausage) and BBQ tofu. In Bogotá it is quite easy to find meat replacements and tofu, although they can be costly. In Europe and the United Stated they sell many good quality vegan replacements, like sausages and vegan ground beef. This recipe will work just fine when having access to only one of the replacements. Using texturized soy is otherwise an option that actually is easier available in Colombia.
Arepa paisa
Traditionally you serve the dish with the white, paisa arepa, that is made of maiz trillado (the white corn grain without the shell), water and a source of fat. But you can use any other simple arepa recipe, like this one, using white cornmeal, water and butter.
Recipe links
Arepas Colombianas (Colombian Corn Cakes)
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Vegan Bandeja Paisa
Ingredients
- 1 recipe frijoles (colombian beans) see link in text above
- 1 recipe arroz blanco (white rice) see link in text above
- 1 recipe hogao (tomato onion sauce), for serving or use the leftovers from the frijoles recipe
- 1 recipe arepas see link in text above
- vegan sausages 6 or 12, depending on size
- 2 ripe avocados, cut in quarters
BBQ tofu
- 400 g (extra) firm tofu, divided in 12 slices
- 4 tbsp BBQ sauce
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- cumin
- salt and pepper
Fried ripe plantain
- 2 ripe plantains, diagonally sliced yellow plantains, with peel going black
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Start by marinating the tofu. Mix BBQ sauce, soy sauce, cumin, salt and pepper in a container. Add tofu slices, mix well and marinate for a couple of hours
- Prepare the frijoles (beans) and white rice according to their recipe
- Prepare the arepas following the recipe. Divide the dough in 6 balls instead of the 4 that the recipe dictates, so you will have smaller arepas. You can shape them with your hands instead of a press
- Make the fried plantains Heat up oil in a frying pan and fry plantain slices until golden/brown. Do this in batches and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Set aside until using
- Prepare BBQ tofu Fry the slices for a couple of minutes in a shallow layer of vegetable oil until they almost turn black. Be careful of the oil splatter. Drain on paper towels and set aside until using
- Cook vegan sausages according to their instructions
- Assemble the Bandeja PaisaDivide the white rice, frijoles, BBQ tofu, vegan sausages, fried plantains, arepas and avocado over 6 big plates.Serve with hogao (tomato onion sauce)
