BBQ Lentils

I know, sounds weird doesn’t it. Well they taste dang good. Who would think that lentils cooked till tender and then have BBQ sauce added to them would be so good. This is something I usually would have for lunch, but felt like having them for dinner tonight, since I am still trying to use up the stuffing and eat some different veggies from time to time. I also didn’t feel like making something new or complicated. Easy is best sometimes. Now I will confess that the rolls you see are not vegan. These are the left over potato rolls from Thanksgiving and the ones at Publix were not vegan, much to my surprise really. The only reason I can think that they have egg and milk is that they must have an egg wash to get brown in the oven. Potato rolls usually don’t need egg, since the potato more or less replaces any need for egg in the recipe. Funny thing though, I was at a Wal-mart Neighborhood Market a couple of days later and their potato rolls are vegan. Who would have guessed. Oh well, know what to buy next time. I would have made them from scratch, but since my kitchen is not really conductive to making bread, had to go store bought.

I also need to eat a least a few servings of lentils every week, since I am anemic. I tried taking vitamins in the past, and wouldn’t you know it, they upset my stomach (just my luck). So I have to treat it with diet. Since I like lentils, broccoli, and even spinach to a certain degree, it is not that hard. I just have to figure out how to get it into my meal plan. I figure if I do this and eat enough of other things, the iron will take care of itself.

The BBQ sauce is something I found at Food TV (if someone could figure out how to veganize the entire recipe, it might be interesting). And another confession, is that it contains Hoisin sauce. I know, made of soybeans, not supposed to eat. However, it didn’t seem to make up a large portion of the ingredients and I wanted to test my tolerance to soy proteins. The good news is that I can tolerate it, but just barely. I can have it about 2x a week and that is it. After this batch, I am not making any more, since I want to have a sauce that won’t bother my stomach. The reason I wanted to try it, is that the base is ginger beer. Since I happen to love ginger beer, I really could not pass up a BBQ sauce based on it. And it is a really good sauce. Kind of thin, but really good. However, I have at least 4 other BBQ sauce recipes I want to try, including the one Becks made up and also one from Bryanna Clark Grogan made with whiskey (yea for Jack Daniels being vegan). It would have been nice to be able to tolerate a bit of soy protein, but I guess that will not be true for me.

That is all for today. Tomorrow will most likely be something new also. I found a recipe for Eggplant Bharta in La Dolce Vegan and just had to try it, since I am trying to eat eggplant, when possible. And it also makes a good one pot meal with hopefully few leftovers. Since I am cooking for two the next two weeks, that will be important.