Soy-Tan Dream Cutlets with Mushroom Sauce, Cajun Cauliflower, and Pecan and Garlic Grains with Spinach

Whew! What a title! And I know it's a lousy pic, but just hush up and listen to what I made, which was all FANTASTIC.

While the Cajun Cauliflower I've mentioned before was roasting in the oven, I put on some Near East Roasted Garlic and Pecan grains from their Whole Grains Blends line. I like keeping things like this on hand for those times when I need to get something together quickly, don't want to think about it too much, and don't want to spend too much time doing it. It doesn't hurt that the stuff is delicious. This one is a nice mix of brown rice and pearled wheat, and the garlic and pecans give it just enough flavor and slight crunch. I added some frozen spinach at the end to get something green on the plate.

The Soy-Tan Dream Cutlets are nothing short of dreamy. Both Ms. Veganorama and I have made these previously for the 1,000 Vegan Recipes blog project. You can do anything with these cutlets! They literally take minutes to put together and are perfect in hot or cold sandwiches, as an entree such as I did here, or, ahem, straight out of the fridge when you need a little something at 3am. Or so I've heard. I of course would never rummage in the fridge in the middle of the night. I had some leftover Mushroom Sauce (also mentioned in several posts on the group blog), so I reheated that and served it atop the cutlets. Everything is shown separately here, as that's how I plated the g-ma's because I wasn't sure she would like the cutlet over the rice with the gravy on top, but that's how I did the other two plates and it was phenomenal. I realize it sounds crazy, and this doesn't look anything like a spectacular meal, but sometimes you gotta trust me.

Veggie Fried Rice and Krispy Kale

This may not look like much, and it may not sound like much, but it's one of the best things I've made in a while. And definitely a quick and dirty meal.

I tossed the kale in olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. Popped that into a 400 degree oven. Checked the fridge. A few days before, I moved some homemade seitan from the freezer to the fridge. I had originally made it for the Chile-Lime Tortilla Soup, which I blogged about for our group project, Cooking From 1,000 Vegan Recipes. I diced the seitan and put that on to saute. Next, I went to the freezer. Good ole Trader Joe's. What would we do without you? Grabbed a bag of Vegetable Fried Rice.

By the time I had browned the seitan with a bit of tamari, cooked the fried rice, added the seitan, and tossed it all in Sriracha, the kale was perfectly crispy, just the way I like it. This all came together in about 30 minutes, it was quite tasty, and the leftovers were even better for lunch.