Arepas with Chipotle Lime Sauce-Vegan, Soy, Wheat, and Gluten Free

It's Meatless Monday! Arepas is a dish made from cornmeal popular in Columbia. I found a version of this recipe posted on Meatless Monday's FB page and made these but I had to make a lot of substitutions. These were REALLY good. Chris said it's his favorite Meatless Monday recipe so far, however, I don't think these turned out like arepas are really supposed to be. I looked at pictures online and some look almost like pitas, though some looked like ours did as well. Who the heck knows, who cares! All I know is these were yummy!

The chipotle lime sauce was super good on top, but it uses Soy Free Vegenaise which contains rice syrup. Chris and I are just trying to finish off the big container of it we bought before we found out it was not Jack safe.

Vegan Arepas

1 cup cornmeal (grits work in a pinch, it just needs longer to sit and soften up)
1/2 cup Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds
2 tsp sea salt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbl soy free Earth Balance buttery spread
1/2 cup corn kernals
1 tsp dried cilantro
a dash of smoked chipotle chile powder (optional)
*1/2 cup mashed potato flakes
3 Tbl peanut or other neutral oil for frying

In a bowl mix cornmeal, daiya, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat almond milk on medium-low heat. Once it begins to steam (about 3 minutes), add Earth Balance and allow to melt. Slowly stir in cornmeal mixture and stir until it's pretty thick, 1-2 minutes. Fold in corn, cilantro, and chipotle powder. Allow it to sit about 15 minutes. *If after 15 minutes the mixture is still to thin to be able to roll into balls, add mashed potato flakes.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Roll arepas dough into ping pong ball size balls and then flatten. Fry them a few at a time for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Daiya has a tendency to burn easily so keep your eye on them!
Remove to a paper towel lined plate to absord excess oil. Serve alone or chipotle lime sauce drizzled on top!

Chipotle Lime Sauce (CONTAINS RICE)

3 Tbl Soy Free Vegenaise
1 Tbl fresh lime juice
1 tsp smoked chipotle chile powder

Stir all ingredients together. That's it!