Brown and Nutty

The first Saturday of every month is Shannon's girls' night. They do some sort of themed get together (tonight is Mexican night) and prepare a dish involving that theme. Then they eat, drink and catch up on gossip. At least, that's what I assume, because the boyfriend is not involved in girls' night and I can only go by hearsay. I volunteered to prepare Shannon's contribution and she volunteered me to make Bean Dip. If you're wondering why the bean dip recipe is completely out of place that is why. The girls enjoyed it.

Since I was dining alone tonight I figured that I would make something that Shannon dislikes or is allergic to. I'm putting almonds in my Rice Pilaf! I feel like such a deviant. Incidentally, I think this was my second day of being a vegan. I'm already getting paranoid of tapping my repertoire for meat dishes before the year is over.

If you haven't tried brown basmati rice before, I recommend it. It does take longer to cook, but it is much more nutritious than white rice and has a delicious nutty flavor to it. Not surprising, a rice pilaf composed of it and nuts goes together quite nicely. It's not hard to polish off more than one serving of this if you so chose. The Spiced Bean Stew is texturally like a chili, but is only a can of coconut milk away from tasting like an authentic Indian side dish.