Vegan Month - Day 16: Black Beans Ordinary Night Dinner

I've done vegan trials before - and I have always loved them.

Mostly I've done 2 week stints in the past - this month long one has been easy because I've taken very specific breaks (all over wknds).  Saturday i had a dinner party with some college friends and I took a break for this Martha Stewart recipe as made by Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/05/marthas-macaroni-and-cheese/

If you like Mac and Cheese (or even if you don't...) you must make this.  It is as amazingly delicious as the blog implies... it was so good that my friend whose house I was cooking at and works in the food industry took the leftovers to his co-workers the next day and received so many compliments that he took credit for making it himself...

So, after a week of eating plant-based everything, this super creamy - melt in your mouth - totally fattening dish, really was worth the exception :)

But back to veganism... I would love to someday kick it up a notch and be full time vegan. But it's difficult. Mainly because most wine is technically not vegan... but also because my career as an event planner is often dependent on me knowing the food I'm serving, trying things, and occasionally traveling off to strange parts of the world where I don't have a lot of flexibility in diet.

It's also difficult in NYC where a lot of social life revolves around restaurants and non-vegans are usually not interested in vegan restaurants. Luckily a lot of NYC available foods have great vegan options - most asian is very easy - Italian, not so easy...

As I've also been going no-takeout for the month, I've been doing a lot of cooking.  The no-takeout has been hard. And I've had a couple of slip-ups - mostly 2 incidents that I insist aren't cheating - (1) I was at someone else's apartment and he ordered and paid for the takeout and (2) I had a ridiculously non-stop day at work on Wednesday with meetings starting at 8 am so one of my co-workers was nice enough to order me some (vegan) sushi.  The point was to get out of the habit of relying on takeout and I feel I am accomplishing that.

So what have I been cooking? Well readers (okay, mom, since I think you are my sole reader), I've been experimenting with a of great recipes - but also just throwing together pretty easy basics that I would eat even as a non vegan.  Making an elaborate tofu stir-fry (btw, you should make this - it's delicious!!!), isn't something I would often cook, but the following is something I cook alllll the time.

Black Beans Ordinary Night Dinner

This is obviously super simple and cheap!  Along with glowing eyes and skin, a slimmed down figure, and overall energy boost, inexpensive eating is one of the best by-products of eating vegan.  So here goes:

-Can of black beans
-1 Tomato (chopped up)
-1 Yellow Onion (halved and sliced)
-Pinch of Cilantro (chopped)
-Chile in Adobo
-Handful of Spinach

For serving:
-1 Cup of Brown Basmati Rice
-Tablespoon of Tofutti Sour Cream
-Small side Salad of chopped up Cherry Tomatoes, Cilantro, and Avocado

Saute the tomato, onion, half the chile and a teaspoon of the adobo sauce in olive oil for a few minutes until the onion is soft and translucent, add the clack beans and cook for another 2 minutes, mix in the spinach and saute all together for another minute or so.  Then stir in the cilantro and serve over basmati rice with the side salad.

This was plenty of dinner for 2.

The rice I cooked (to perfection) in a rice cooker - an amazing purchase that stands next to my new juice and high powered vacuum as the life-changing purchases I have made in 2014!