Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Brown Rice and Green Lentils, Baked Portobello Mushrooms, Cornmeal Coated Tofu and Bean Salad

This rice and lentils recipe came from a recipe book I had years ago. I no longer have the book as it, and several of my other cookbooks, met a soggy end when I had the great idea of storing them near the sink. I have pretty much the worst memory of anyone I know so when I thought about making this recipe I remembered there was rice and lentils and ummmm..... Well, I think there was onions, garlic and soy sauce and there might have been thyme. So that’s what I put in and it turned out really yummy. I also had a search on the internet and found a few recipes that had fried, caramelised onions included which sounds really yummy. I am certain that the onions in my cookbook were cooked along with the lentils and rice so I did that to keep the fat content down. I had it with a baked Portobello Mushroom and broccoli. I like some strange combinations sometimes... :)
Next to the Balsamic Strawberries this is my new favourite thing – Bean Salad. Not very exciting, just a mix of chickpeas, edamame, green beans, sweetcorn, red onion, parsley and Simple Cider Vinaigrette from Vive Le Vegan! It is so yummy! I made a ton of Rice and Lentils so I had plenty left over and next day for lunch I had some with the bean salad on top. I added some home grown mung bean sprouts (that is about as green fingered as I get). Delish!
I bought some cornmeal recently for a recipe I was going to make, but I forgot what it was (see what I mean about my memory?!) so I thought I would use some to make this Cornmeal Coated Tofu. Wee G liked that they looked like fish fingers (fish sticks) and wanted to know if I could make them taste kind of fishy. I think I could use some kind of seaweed, but I don’t really know anything about seaweed. We tried sprinkling them with some kelp granules but I think those taste salty rather than fishy. Any suggestions?

8 comments:

Twisted Cinderella said...

I am definitely going to give this recipe a try. I love trying new things!

MeloMeals said...

You could wrap the tofu in nori sheets, then the cornmeal... that would definitely be fishy...

Your bean salad looks so good, I love the homemade bean sprouts...

also, the brown rice and lentil combo sounds great.. they go together so well.. total comfort food.

bazu said...

That looks like my kind of dinner! I've posted photos of salads that look just like yours... ooops, there I go drooling again. =P

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Yeah, kelp or hijiki are the first things that come to mind for the fishy-ness..maybe some dill? I think they look great, though. I really like cornmeal coated tofu and tempeh myself, though not for the fishy-hopes, just not my thing.

KleoPatra said...

Oh my gosh, when i looked at your top photograph i thought it was MEAT. That was really amazing... I had to look twice, then a third time. Wow. Looks really good now that i know what it is!!

I also have a terrible memory for things that just happened. It is bothersome! But i can remember stuff that happened long ago. Maybe that's why i don't cook much with recipes!

Carmelised onions are one of life's great pleasures... just my opinion! I'm also one of the portabella mushroom's biggest fans...

The cornmeal coated tofu do look fishy! How interesting! I think hijiki is kinda "fishy" so if you could find a way to incorporate that into your recipe there, that might give it the flavour Wee G would enjoy... What do you think???

Sheree' said...

I love mung bean sprouts. Yummy little guys. Your post is making me hungry!

scottishvegan said...

twisted cinderella, thanks for the comment. I hope you like the tofu if you try it!

melody, thanks for your help…I knew you would have an idea!! The lentils and rice are great comfort food…I think that’s why I had a wee craving for them!

bazu, be careful, you will mess up your keyboard with your drooling! :)

jess, thanks for your ideas. I never thought of dill. I’m not mad on the idea of it tasting too fishy myself...perhaps I should make Wee G’s “fishy” and mine “unfishy” :)

kleopatra, it does look a little meaty, doesn’t it? Scary… I can’t remember things that happened recently or long ago…oh dear! Perhaps I will try some caramelised onions next time…they are pretty yummy! I think seaweed is the way to go for a fishy taste, thanks for your suggestion!

veg-a-nut, I love mung bean sprouts too. I wish I could remember to grow them more often!

vko said...

love that you grow your own mung sprouts- that's pretty green-thumbed if you ask me!

bean salad looks delicious as does the cornmeal crusted tofu- I want to make that!