Review of Vegan Recipe

A few days ago I blogged about a Vegan cookbook, Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin.  My brother in law raved about the Red Beans and Rice recipe and I thought I'd give it a try, so last night for dinner that's what I made--for everyone.  I decided that I wasn't going to make all these recipes for me, since they're supposed to be so similar you won't miss the meat.  Well, for me, this was a very different meal than I've had in a long time.  It was very hearty and filling and the flavors were something I can't recall eating since I've stopped eating meat.  It really WAS like eating meat.  I like the fact that Chef Roberto tells you which brands to buy because this vegan sausage was really very good.  Evan liked it as well.  He disagreed that it was filling and thought it would have worked better as a side (and to be honest, in the future I'd probably make it more as a side) but he thought it was good.  Now, let me just try to explain that Evan giving it praise is high praise indeed.  Anything "vegan" or "vegetarian"  he's usually a pretty tough critic, so I was ready for him to turn his nose up at the vegan sausage in this recipe, but no.  The kids didn't like it, but I would have expected that.  It's not something that I would have normally chosen to prepare, and honestly, probably would have been one of the last few recipes I picked to make from this cookbook (mine came in the mail the   other day!) but since my brother in law and the cookbook author both said it was the best in the book, I thought I'd try it first.  SO, I'll be returning the copy to the North Canton Public Library (this link should take you directly to the book in the catalog so you can put it on reserve) so check it out!  It's so  much fun to find a cookbook that has lots of new ideas to try!  I'm so sick of making nachos, breakfast-for-dinner and spaghetti (the kids requests EVERY TIME I ask them what they want for dinner) and there are a lot of "normal" recipes I've kind of missed over the last 5 years.  It will also be good for Olivia, who's never tried some of these flavors since she's always been a vegetarian.

Also, a note about basmati rice.  AWESOME!  I've cooked with it before, but the red beans and rice recipe called to make it alone and serve the beans over it.  It's really flavorful and smells great while cooking!  I think I'll use it more often when I bake big batches of rice and freeze them to use later.  I've been sautéing kale and cabbage and tossing some black beans and leftover rice in there for lunch.  I feel SO good about eating like this because it's eating WHOLE foods, which is my ultimate goal, it's vegan, which I always feel is best, and it's filling, which is important since it takes awhile to do and it needs to get me through the rest of the day while I clean and child-care.  I usually sauté with toasted sesame oil then add a little mirin, soy sauce and rice vinegar to add flavor.  I love asian flavors, so this is my favorite, but I also sauté with olive oil and add lemon pepper.  Not sure why I added that part.  I guess I figured you're all spending your afternoons, thinking, "What's Melissa having for lunch?!?!"  Kids are starting to swarm me.  Can't reach the keyboard anymore....