Mexican Spice & Cheese Focaccia Rolls

Mother of All Vegan Burgers: Part 1



Hi and welcome back to Ria Lives Well!

So guys, I’m now in Colorado for two weeks {well, now more like two days}. My spring and summer terms at Oregon State are finally over! Can you believe it was six months ago that I published From East Coast 2 West Coast?

At the time I wrote that, it was a way to cope with the stress of moving, and to put my solutions into words. Time certainly has a way of sneaking up on you, but I couldn’t be happier for the move. These past six months have been difficult as I juggled school and roughly four jobs. Suffice it to say, Ria needs some R&R.

I’ve been putting recipes on the back burner since I burned myself {haha, get it? A little play on words there}. Life without the full mobility of one of your hands is freaking hard, y’all.

The story as to how I burned my hand is embarrassing, so a friend and I came up with an “epic” story: I saved a kitten from a small fire. That’s all I got. The kitten was just, like, running toward the fire. Don’t ask me why. Only know that I saved him.

Bum hand be damned: I needed to get back in the kitchen to bake these focaccia rolls for a few reasons:

1. I’ve been MIA in the food department. I looked at my blog the other day and asked myself: Where the hell are my recipes?

2. For the past few weeks, I’ve been imagining a recipe for an epic vegan burger. The mother of all vegan burgers that will top ALL other vegan burgers I’ve eaten. So it’s time to set my plan into action. And these focaccia rolls make the perfect buns for my burger.

3. I was recently given a jar of CaliCutts Artisan Mexican Adobo blend by the shop owner, Robert Orth, and I’ve used it {almost} every day since. I’m not kidding. This spice is amazing. So the thought of adding it to my rolls was just…I couldn’t contain my excitement.

Robert Orth also sent me a sample of his curry powder and vanilla bean sugar {he’ll soon introduce the vanilla bean sugar to his store, and is a must-have for bakers}. I’ve already used the vanilla bean sugar on my caramelized vegan bacon and loved it.

Orth also helped me debunk the Artisan Hoax that Times magazine recently wrote on. If you’re a foodie, then flavor is important to you. Flavor is the reason you cook, bake and spend countless hours creating and then recreating a recipe. If you are the definition of a “foodie”, then you need Artisan spices in your life. These specfically handcrafted spices help each recipe achieve it’s maximum flavor capacity.

Mexican Spice & Cheese Focaccia Rolls

Inspired by: Budget Bytes

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flower

1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

1-1.5 cups water

Olive oil

2 teaspoons Mexican adobe spice

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Some vegan cheese

Directions

In a bowl, add sifted AP flour, instant yeast and 2 teaspoons Mexican Adobo spice. Mix until combined. Add 1 cup of water until a sticky, wet ball forms. Add a little more until you Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it bubble and expand over night {at most 24 hours at least 12 hours}. Once it looks like this heap of mess:

Scrape it out of the bowl and onto a well floured surface. Shape it into a bowl {don’t knead} and then cut out six pieces. Shape these individual pieces into smaller balls, sprinkling them with enough flour to prevent it from sticking to your hands.

Yes, focaccia rolls are Italian, but adding the Adobo spice creates the flavor in these Mexican Spice & Cheese rolls. Orth definitely knew what he was doing when he handcrafted this bad boy. As a major foodie, I’ll be honored to interview him for RLW to see what goes behind the crafting of each one of his spices.

My family and I devoured these rolls so quickly, next time I’m going to double the recipe. I highly suggest you all do the same!

~Live Well!