1/25/10

Urban Vegan's Bangin' Havana Beans and Rice

Just a quick post because I am cranking out proposals for various endeavors, in a seemingly never-ending loop... but at least I have good brain food!

Last night I made such a damn-good dinner that I was sad (for a second) that no one was there to eat it with me and complement me. (And then I cackled gleefully because I knew I had the rest all to myself.) However, maybe the reason why you make such good food when alone is because you are only trying to please yourself, and can afford to be more adventurous and/or ridiculous. Like, I decided to make the Havana Rice and Beans from the Urban Vegan cookbook, despite having only a 1/2 the ingredients. Further, I had a handful of cashews, so I decided to try the cashew sour cream from Vegan Brunch. If someone else was there I probably would have done something less time-consuming, that I actually had the ingredients for, but it ended up being lovely puttering around the apartment, leisurely making the components for my meal while simultaneously freaking out about transnational citizenship.

Anyways, it was so FREAKING good. I dunno why a simple beans and rice dish is so amazing, but one explanation is that Ms. Urban Vegan is a genius. Go out and buy her cookbook immediately. This is by far one of the least exciting-sounding recipes in the book, and its still phenomenal. There's a bay leaf involved, and veg broth, and vinegar... but still, I was doing double takes while I ate it, like "did I just make this? woah." And that's with half the ingredients. Meanwhile, the cashew sour cream was equally exultant, the only problem being that its so easy and has so few ingredients that I might make it every day. Wow.

So there you have it, another cheap and hearty meal with lots of leftovers and happiness. But just in case you think I've strayed too far from my daily pancake routine, here is my pal Ted enjoying one of the 3 batches of pancakes made over the weekend. Still the best bang for the buck, those pancakes.

(Yes ladies, he's single. :) )

Song of the Day: Joe Strummer and the Muscaleros- Global A-Go-Go

6 comments:

jessy said...

the havana beans 'n rice look great, T - and i like the sound of that cashew sour cream. i don't have urban vegan or vegan brunch, but i think i need to put both on my amazon wishlist. w00t! i love making more elaborate meals for myself, and you're right - you can experiment a little more, take your time, and have fun with it, too. that's the best! now i want pancakes and beans 'n rice! ah ha ha! mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Jennifer said...

Yum.

And YAY! for Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.

The Voracious Vegan said...

Cashew sour cream is the best! Isn't Vegan Brunch awesome?

Are you writing grant proposals? What for? Isn't it it the worst and the best at the same time?

Naomi Rose said...

I really want to try those kind of nutty creams!

That's a great beard,

Jean said...

you seem to a person who have been to different places and loves to eat.. it would be so cool to see all those food from different places on a hard copy like postcard printing..make it some king of a collection or food album.. it would be nice

MissAlyssaDawn said...

holy yumE that plate of beans, rice and tomatoes looks amazing! drool