Mango Beans!

Oh, I really, really love mango. Mango smoothies, mango salsa, the old Chris Kattan character on SNL…you get it. I made these Mango BBQ Beans from Appetite for Reduction once before, and they didn’t turn out that great. This time, I decided to alter the recipe in two ways: 1. I added 1 TSP of sweet red chili sauce, and 2. I added a lot more veggie broth, and put rice in to cook with it. Of course, that little stunt doubled the cooking time, but it was so worth it. It took these beans from “meh” to a meal.

To round it out I served it with a little chopped pineapple we had leftover from another dish (is there ANYTHING better than fresh pineapple?) and some Jerk Asparagus, also from Appetite for Reduction. All around awesome meal, and I will totally be making this again in the future. Maybe I’ll even through the pineapple in with the beans next time! Whoa, slow down lady! You are living on the edge!

 

Baked Mac & Cheese

I’ll admit it. I’ve been totally spoiled by the VegNews Mac & Cheese. That stuff is out of this world! But it’s also pretty stinkin’ fatty, and I’m not always in the mood for the greasy food. Plus, it’s kind of a bear to cook–lots of boiling of various veggies, etc. And I do sometimes like a nutritional yeast-based mac, since it’ll provide me with tons of B12 vitamins! Go B12!

I turned to the Baked Mac & Cheese from, you guessed it, Happy Herbivore. I’d been interested in making an unmilk based cheesy sauce, too, since I’ve made the Appetite for Reduction one about a million times. And while it’s good, I often crave something creamier. Bring on the Mori-Nu and almond milk, baby!

And this was good–it falls somewhere in between my favorite macs, since it’s creamy and baked just like VegNews, but noochy, like AFR. I will say that it seemed to be missing something–I’m guessing either a pinch of nutmeg, or a dash of hot sauce. I put a bit of tabasco on it, and that helped round out the flavor a little. Lemon juice in the cheese sauce, perhaps? I’ll think of something.

You’ll notice that I paired this with some rockin’ Jerk Asparagus, also from AFR. That stuff can do NO WRONG. And you’ll think it’s going to come out all weird, and it doesn’t, it’s so easy and magical. I wish I made it more, but asparagus is sooooo expensive. I blame the man for that one.

“Oh my, aren’t you a fancy one?”

Tonight madame will be having the Mushroom Cranberry Salad with potatoes and asparagus? Very good.

Seriously, this dinner was so stinking fancy! The dressing had all the fun of shallots, horseradish and balsamic vinegar. How can you possibly go wrong with that? And mushrooms! And garlic! And magic! *poof*

I also really love steaming potatoes. Just the smell of a steamed potato sends me over the moon. And look at the little white asparagus. Yes, you can insert your albino penis joke here…or…erm…not. But still! I have never felt more classy eating a meal. I should have paired it with some white wine (if the only kind I have isn’t a month old and in a box–true story) or a fancy dessert.

But instead of dessert I spent my after dinner time gathering emergency supplies in case we have to sleep in the basement tonight. Because of a deadly line of tornadoes headed right for our neck of the woods. Cue Jon Lovitz: “Jealous?”

Recipe can be found in Appetite for Reduction.

Blackened Butternut Jerk

Yet another dinner attempt that left me scratching my head. Why do I continue to make dinners that take me hours to prepare? Oh, yeah. The delicious.

I’m still getting used to eating tofu this way–as sort of a semi-meat. I’m good with tofu in noodle bowls, stir-fry, as ricotta cheese, even as eggs. But for some reason, seeing it in a slab like this creeps me out. I think it’s because of my aversion to fish, and it looks SO MUCH like fish when blackened and cut into little rectangles. So, I may never looove tofu this way, but it’s pretty good. A little dry, but I think that might have been from my 1.25 hour mega pressing.

Can we get to the sides? Cause seriously. These sides rock. I thought all of the ingredients in the Butternut rice would be weird. There’s what in there now? Lime? Ginger? Coconut? What? But it was great–tropical, but comforting. Like Thanksgiving served pool side. And the jerk asparagus. I thought my husband was going to pass out when he put this in his mouth. Then he begged, “please, please, PLEASE make this again.” Oh, I will. In a month, sucka!

As usual, recipes are found in Appetite for Reduction.