How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Beans & Rice, repeat, repeat, repeat

I read recently that you should never use a flash when photographing food, and since I am usually cooking after dark this has put a cramp in my blogging style. I may have to go back to old, amateurish ways. Meanwhile, sadly unillustrated, the march through Mark Bittman's estimable How to Cook Everything Vegetarian proceeds.

SUNDAY DINNER:

black beans with orange, white rice, spicy no-mayo cole slaw, cornmeal poundcake with coconut glaze

  

Comments: Much loved by everyone, though Mark thinks "no-mayo cole slaw" is an oxymoron. Another phenomenal Bittman cake. 

MONDAY BREAKFAST:

bran muffins 

Comments: The batter was like thin soup. I ladled it into the muffin tins and hoped for the best, but there was nothing to keep the raisins from all sinking to the bottom. Otherwise: adequate.

MONDAY RANDOM: 

rich golden bread

Comments: Bittman is a lover of the slashing food processor in bread making, while I remain a devotee of the gentle stand mixer. We may never see eye to eye.

MONDAY DINNER:

fast braised tofu with tempeh, white rice, stir-fried broccoli, chocolate bread pudding 

Comments: Bittman describes this tofu dish as a vegan version of ma po tofu with tempeh standing in for the ground pork. It didn't remind me of ma po tofu at all, but was lovely in its own right. Here's the bizarre part: Owen almost threw himself off the deck the last time I served tofu, but last night he bent his face over his plate and shoveled it into his mouth the way old Chinese men slurp noodles. He's either going through a growth spurt or has a short memory. Definitely needs a lesson in table manners. Chocolate bread pudding was supremely easy and delicious, though Mark criticized its "unsightly" appearance. I believe he prefers his desserts to come out of a vending machine.