Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Roasted Veggies with Cranberry Beans, Marinated Roasted Portobello Mushrooms, and Brown Rice

Friday, June 13, 2008

Roasted Veggies with Cranberry Beans, Marinated Roasted Portobello Mushrooms, and Brown Rice

This meal could have also been called 'Really Simple Food That Speaks For Itself'. I am always amazed at how good veggies are when roasted. They don't need anything, just a bit of salt. They have enough of their own flavor.

I was looking for a simple, yet tasty and healthy dinner the other night, and I think I found the perfect meal! Brett and I raved about this and were also happy with how good something so basic could be.

We made some long grain brown rice and cranberry beans to go with the roasted veggies.

The portobello mushroom was marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and about 1 tsp of juice from a jar of kalamata olives (Brett's idea - a good one too!) for a few hours and then roasted, along with a zucchini, red bell pepper, garlic, some small onions from our CSA, and some asparagus.

Once all the veggies were roasted, I sliced them up, tossed them with just a bit of olive oil, and layered them over plates of brown rice and beans. This was a really good meal.















Marinating the portobello.















Pan full of veggies ready to be roasted.















The finished product. Yum!

Remember when I talked about the lovely bagel sandwiches Brett and I have been enjoying the other day? Well, I had actually taken pictures of the sandwiches and fruit, but was too lazy to post them. So I'll do it now. :-)















This was Brett's sandwich. He had veganaise, spicy mustard, leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pickles. And of course, some beautiful organic cherries.















My sandwich was the same as Brett's less the pickles. I also had an organic peach and some extra cucumber slices on the side.

And finally, Brett and I made a really awesome find the other day. Now, I'm not sure how many Americans have noticed that Coca Cola does not taste like it used to, at least not how I remember it as a kid. I chalked it up to the fact that they now use high fructose corn syrup and a myriad of other crazy chemicals. As a result, I do not drink 'regular' soda anymore, I rarely drink 'non-regular' soda, but when I do it is generally Izze or Jarrito's (Mexican soda, are you surprised?). Well, when Brett and I were at the store the other day, browsing the 'ethnic' aisle, we noticed Mexican Coca Cola, in a glass bottle (how soda should be), sweetened with sugar, and with an ingredients list about half as long as American Coca Cola. It was far more expensive than American Coke ($1.69 a bottle for this stuff), but it is so much better than American Coke, seriously. I won't drink it very often, as it's expensive, comes all the way from Mexico, and, well, soda is not all that good for you, but it will make for a nice treat from time to time.

Check it out:



















Refresco is right! ;-)

'Til next time.

20 comments:

Rural Vegan said...

Years and years ago, before I was even vegetarian, I would get veggie bagel sammiches. I haven't had one since but now I want one desperately!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, those roasted veggies look DELICIOUS!

Alicia said...

the pan of veggies ready to be roasted is just plain beautiful. The best food is the one you can eat with little preparation. I mean, of course, there are lot of complicated foods that taste great, but the taste of plain roasted veggies is just as perfect! you get to taste the real thing!

Anonymous said...

I've been buying the Mexican cokes for a couple of years ago. That was mainly because I really enjoy drinking it out of a glass bottle, but you're right...the ingredients are much more simpler. I don't know how "American" coke tastes, because I don't drink it and haven't in years, but I imagine with all the crap they put in it, it's not very good! (oh, and the food looks wonderful!)

Chile said...

Mmmm, those veggies look divine!

I love roasted vegetables but I hate how much it heats up the kitchen on a hot summer day. And the solar oven just doesn't get hot enough for roasting. Grilled vegetables are another alternative, and I can now set up the G. Foreman grill outside to keep the kitchen cool.

Anonymous said...

your veggies look amazing! I'm craving veggies now.

I have a weakness for soda. Throughout my 4 years in high school I didn't drink soda (for sports purposes0, but about a year ago I had a soda episode. I could not get enough of Dr. Pepper. It lasted for 2 weeks, then gradually went down after that.
Now, I'm quitin'. LOL I mean I'll still drink carbonated drinks, like homemade italian soda and coco rico, but not the coke, pepsi, mountain dew sprite, dr. pepper etc. Lindsay from Happy Herbivore commented on my blog a while back about Big soda companies doing animal testing, that's what actually turned me off from drinking dr. pepper. I did a little researching on it. They say that they're not anymore, but I highly doubt it. Do you have any info on it? Wait, maybe you shouldn't tell me I'll get right back into it. LOL

Have a good one!

P.S. Your portabello mushroom looks like flan. :-)

Bianca said...

I love roasted veggies too...especially marinated portabellos. That meal looks super tasty.

I wish I could find some Mexican coke. I gave up soda (and all HFCS) after reading Skinny Bitch. But if I could find some non-HFCS soda, I'd drink it.

ChickPea said...

Look at all those veggies!! Delicious!

Unknown said...

ive never heard or cranberry beans.

i love roasted veggies. and grilled veggies. little bit of olive oil & salt & pepper & i am good to go.

Danielle said...

Everything looks incredible! I'm about to go abroad so I won't be around the blogosphere for a while and wanted to wish you all the best. Take care :)

Unknown said...

Roasted veggies rule!

jessy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jessy said...

oh wow, Jennifer! those roasted veggies look amazing! and i totally want one of those bagel sammies, too! i'll also have some of those cherries! mmmmmmmmmm! it all looks so freak'n good!

now i want a bagel with a roasted portobello and some vegeniase! w00t!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

'Really Simple Food That Speaks For Itself'

Youshould make that the title of the cookbook you NEED to write ;o)

J said...

Rohit - Hi. I'm not quite sure I follow....

Rural Vegan - Lizzy (from the blog Trying Veganism) is actually who got me back into veggie bagel sandwiches. Awhile back she posted about a lovely bagel sandwich and then the farmer's market started getting more abundant, and here we are, eating lots of bagel sandwiches. ;-)

Romina - Thanks! They were.

Alice - Isn't it. You are right, while complicated meals can be very good, there is just something special about meals that require little preparation and are still wonderful.

Ve*ganChick - A fellow Mexican Coke fan! I don't remember how American Coke tastes either, but I recall that when I drank soda still, I didn't ever drink Coke because I didn't like it, but I remember loving it as a kid.

Chile - Thanks! I agree, we lucked out with a mild day for this meal. Too bad about the solar oven, I would love to have one even still though. I wish I knew how to grill! Brett is going to have to teach me, it's perfect hot weather food!

Leng - I used to have a weakness for soda too, it was pretty much all I drank, probably why I have bad teeth now.

I'm with you, I still drink carbonated beverages (Izze is carbonated fruit juice), and the occasional cane sugar sweetened natural soda from time to time, but things like Coke and Pepsi, I stay away from, except the Mexican Coke from time to time.

I really don't know about animal testing and soda. My take on it is - if the ingredients list contains all sorts of chemicals you don't know what they are, they were likely tested on animals at some point, and one should probably avoid consuming all those chemicals to begin with.

:-)

Bianca - Thank you, I used to hate balsamic vinegar, but I think it was because I had cheap, old balsamic vinegar.

I stopped drinking soda awhile back because it's expensive and not good for you. SB reinforced that. I will drink things like Izze, Mexican Coke, and Jarritos as they are sweetened with cane sugar, anything with HFCS in it? No thank you.

Chickpea - Thanks, it was!

Selina - I hadn't either until Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) sent me a link to a small family farm that grows organic beans. They sounded interesting so I ordered some, and now I'm hooked. We recently ordered 10 lbs, so we should be set for awhile.

So true, olive oil, salt & pepper, and roasted veggies are all you need.

Danielle - Thanks so much. Be careful and have a wonderful time going abroad, it's an experience I'm sure you'll never forget!

Cookiemouse - I second that statement!

Jessy - Thank you. Those cherries were incredible. They were SO SWEET.

GREAT IDEA, marinate a portobello and use it as a 'burger'. You rock Jessy!

Katie (Chocolate Covered) - Hahahahaha! You are making me blush. ;-)

Chile said...

You don't have to learn how to grill with the George Foreman grills. (I've got two because they are so handy.) Just slice veggies thickly and pop them in. No oil or fat needed since the grill's non-stick. I've grilled tons of stuff: onions, garlic (whole cloves),green onions (leave whole - great with salt and lime juice!), fennel, asparagus, bell pepper (& other peppers), eggplant, mushrooms, carrots, sweet potatoes, hashbrowns, frozen corn (fresh too), zucchini (& other summer squash), nopales (prickly pear pads), pineapple, veggie burgers, & vegan quesadillas (folded over).

One of the grills has interchangeable plates including a deep one for the bottom. I use that one to grill bean burritos, folded over like the quesadilla. With the crispy exterior, it taste like a fried chimichanga without the fat. Sprinkling nutritional yeast on the beans first will also give it a cheezy kind of taste.

Can you tell I like my grill? And no, I don't get a commission if you go buy one. It's just a great cooking tool for fatfree vegan food. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I love the picture with all the veggies ready to go- looks so good!

J said...

Chile - I really need to keep my eye out for a Foreman grill. I am seriously drooling over your list of veggies, especially the nopales (lucky!).

It sounds like I could use that grill for a lot of things, no need in heating up the apartment just to fry a burrito! I love the idea of a little nooch on the beans, I have never tried that, and haven't been very impressed by the vegan "cheeses" out there.

Hahahahahaha! Thanks for the tips!

Shellyfish - Thanks, it was!

Erin said...

A myriad of roasted veggies! Beautiful. I too have heard of the wonders of Mexican Coke but haven't had the pleasure of trying it yet.

posicionamiento web buscadores said...

Well, I do not really suppose this may work.