Back to Basics - Dinner

Tonight I decided to go back to what I'm good at:  Italian.

I returned home from errands today and was nothing short of starved, and the kind where you feel like you're going to eat your own face if you don't get food fast!  Yes, that kind of starved!  I at a spoonful of PB and honey (don't knock it 'til you try it!  Super sweet and super filling!) and continued on to making dinner, which I knew would take an hour to prepare.

On the menu?  Rice and veggies.
The challenge?  Making a rice dish my fiancé will eat without complaining.  As of late, he claims my rice is off it's game and want me to go back to making it the "good" way.  Problem is, I don't remember now what the "good" way is, as I have tried to recreate my favorite Asian inspired flavors to absolutely no avail.  And more like negative avail.

He's been a good sport though.  He complains a bit, throws a bunch more sauce on, and eats it anyways.  But I wanted to redeem myself, mostly because I'm tired of the complaining....but even more honestly because I agree with him!

So off to the rice I went.  And here's what I did.

Want a more al dente rice?  "toast" it first.  Fry it up in a frying pan with olive oil on med/high for a few minutes, coating it in the olive oil.  It'll sear up the outside so that when it cooks it has a more of an individualized texture than an sticky one.

Then I threw it in the water.  I added a baby slice of avocado, a spoonful of pesto (from TJ's, even though, again, it has a little cheese in it, but it's gluten free!  Don't have pesto?  Fresh basil is preferable but dried is okay, you'll just need a bunch, and garlic!)  I also added a G-free Vegan "chicken" bouillon, garlic, oregano, and pepper.  I have learned to be generous with my spices as it takes more than you think to taste the spices when you're dealing with rice!
I also added in some of the juice from the bottle of garlic mushrooms from TJ's for acidity and more garlic.

Now veggies:
Celery, red pepper, eggplant, and almonds (not a veggie.  yes, I know)
Sliced and in a skillet with Olive Oil, garlic, oregano, black pepper, red pepper flakes (will make it spicy, so easy on these guys if you don't like heat!!), kalamata olives, green olives and a dash of the green olive juice for acidity (same idea as a dirty martini).  Let those cook on low until they're cooked but still crunchy (celery at least!)

Side dish:  Tempeh bacon.  5 slices, olive oil and pepper.  Fry up until golden brown on each side.

Once cooked.  Serve.  YUM yum!