I apologize for posting last night’s meal so late (that is, a day later — ahem!). Can I let you in on a little secret? Yesterday was my birthday, so I spent the day as a lady of leisure — volunteering, swimming, chatting on the phone with old friends. As a result, I was feeling SO leisurely that I didn’t even fool with writing a blog post! I was thinking of you, though, as I cooked, and felt you might like the menu. So here it is!
Since it was my birthday, I decided to tackle a few of my favorite foods, beginning with a vegetarian version of the shrimp sandwich I used to love at this restaurant named Harry’s, down on the Gulf Coast in a little town called Carrabelle. I used the breaded vegan shrimp from Sophie’s Kitchen, and it turned out just beautifully! I was going to get fancy and mix up an Old Bay Aioli, but I neglected to remember that I had no Old Bay in the house. (I hope this memory lapse isn’t a sign of old age!) So once the shrimp was baked and the buns were toasted, we simply topped our sandwiches with some Vegenaise and lettuce and called it a day. The end result was just like I remembered from Harry’s! We piled our sandwiches high with shrimp, so there was protein in every bite, and the lettuce gave us a little crunch. (And I’ll try the Old Bay aioli another time.)
Alongside the sandwiches, I whipped up a big batch of kousherie, with a few modifications from the recipe I’ve just linked to — we used macaroni instead of spaghetti, for instance, and I boiled the lentils along with the pasta. Also, instead of making a big pot of rice, I simply warmed up two packets of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice and added them to the mixture before serving!
The peas were a wonderful addition to our plates; English peas are some of my very favorite veggies, and we mowed down the whole pot. Plus, they added some much-needed greenery to our surf-and-carb meal!
We paired our dinner with a bottle of Flying Dog Dead Rise, a beer brewed with — what else? — Old Bay. Don’t recoil in horror; it’s actually a very subtle seasoning in this brew, and we love the end result. It was a fitting way to toast a wonderful day!
:)