Vegan Chef Eddie Garza’s Latin American Foods, Part 2 of 2 - Venezuelan Vegan Reina Pepiada (Chickpea and Avocado Salad Corn Cake Sandwich)

“Today we’re going to make a Venezuelan vegan Reina Pepiada, which translates to a crowned queen. It’s the most popular recipe all over Venezuela and in much of Latin America.”

“The first step to making a delicious Reina Pepiada is to make a delicious corn cake, also known as an ‘arepa.’ For that, we’re going to need one cup of cooked corn flour.” “While this is heating up, I’m going to go ahead and form my corn cakes. And I’m just going to grab about a quarter cup of my masarepa that already formed dough, and I’ll create little balls like this, just to make sure that it’s nice and even. I got one. We’ll be getting six out of this particular one. So I’m taking my little ball, turn it into a disc just by flattening it with my hands, and place it right on the hot griddle.”

“Let’s go ahead and get to the next part, the Reina Pepiada filling. It’s a chicken salad sandwich. In this case, we’re not using animal chicks. We’re using legumes, we’re using chickpeas, and I love these because they’re so versatile; they have so much protein.” “So I’m going to take the avocado out. And this will naturally fall apart. So we are just going to cut it up into large chunks. We don’t want this to get super oxidized. So we are going to add some lime juice to this. Because I like mine extra bright, I’m going to add the entire lime. And we’ll toss around some more.” “We’re going to fill these and enjoy these with all the amazing things that you would expect from Latin America, which includes mayonnaise, but it’s vegan mayonnaise, which makes it better for the planet, better for your health. And of course, much better for the animals that aren’t needed to make vegan mayonnaise. I’m taking my vegan mayonnaise and toss it into my already rested chickpeas and avocado.”

“I’m going to also decorate with just a little bit of cilantro for each of these. Here we go. And these are our Venezuelan vegan Reina Pepiadas, our crowned queens. How exciting this is! You could have a delicious plant-based version of a traditional South American dish without harming any animals.”