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I've already started thinking about the next tamale filling I'll play with... Accidental Vegan has tons of great filling ideas. These would also be amazing on the grill in the summer. I'm tamale-obsessed. Pour me a cerveza.

• The Accidental Vegan at Amazon.com

Ingredients:
2 ears of fresh corn (save the husks!)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups masa harina (*a Mexican corn meal that I couldn't find so I used yellow grits... worked great!)

1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 serrano chili, minced
Kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
Handful of fresh chopped cilantro

1. Bring the water, salt, and olive oil to a boil. Turn off the flame and slowly stir in the masa or grits until a thick dough forms.

2. When it's cool enough to handle, form the masa into 2-inch balls and set aside.

3. Shuck the corn and reserve the husks.

4. Using a small knife, cut the kernels from the cob.

5. In a saucepan saute the onions and garlic in oil. Add the diced tomato and spices and cook until the tomato is totally broken down.

6. Add the beans (rinced and drained) and cilantro and cook until the beans are heated through.

7. Put one masa ball in the center of a corn husk and spoon a little bean mixture on top. Use the husks to wrap the tamale filling up into a little package. No need to tie or anything - just tuck the husk under the bottom and place the tamale into your bamboo steamer.

8. Fill a wok with a few inches of water and bring to a boil. Place the steamer over the boiling water and steam the tamales until the contents are hot. We ate them with avocado and roasted acorn squash on the side. YUM.

What are tamales?
Tamales have been a central American staple since before those pesky Europeans showed up and ruined all the fun. According to the old faithful, Wikipedia, "tamales were developed as a portable ration for use by war parties in the ancient Americas and were as ubiquitous and varied as the sandwich is today."

Thank you for sharing! This may be the first real tutorial we've seen on tamales and now we're inspired to try them too. Go visit the Two Blue Lemons for more vegan and vegetarian recipes from this team of two blogging sisters.

(Images: Two Blue Lemons)