Tempeh Asado with too many sides

At the bbq on Sunday, some awesome vegan gifts were bestowed upon me. See:

The cookies were delicious and didn't survive more than two days, and I was so excited to receive Viva Vegan! I had checked it out of the library recently, and loved it so much, I put it on my wishlist. And Jen is just so gosh darn amazing, she bought it for me! Yay for awesome friends who are also fabulous gift-givers.

Unfortunately, my first go-round fell on an evening when I was starving and needed to go to the store, and therefore, long prep time was absolutely out of the question. I couldn't decide between the side dishes I wanted to accompany my tempeh asado, so I made them all: fried plantains (so bad, but sooo good!), braised kale, and cilantro-lime rice. Everything was so good, and it was all relatively easy to put together.

Thanks, Jen! You're the bee's knees! (But you already knew that.)

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Lately, I've been feeling a little nostalgic for New Orleans. I miss it. Lots. I came across this recipe in La Dolce Vegan, and decided to try to ease my heartache by blasting Lil Wayne while making red beans and rice.

If I had used the right kind of rice, I think this would have been a yummy way to pay vegan homage to New Orleans. Instead, I was an ass and thought, "Oh, the type of rice won't really matter. I'll use this long-grain brown rice instead of quick cooking rice, and it'll be fine."

Wrong.

When everything was finished, the rice was still slightly undercooked, and gave the dish a slightly crunchy texture. Not cool. The flavor was really tasty, but I just couldn't get over the rice situation. So, had I decided to fork out the two or three bucks for quick-cooking rice, this would have yielded way better results. Lesson learned.

And I don't miss NOLA any less. I guess it's time to start thinking about my next visit.