Welcome to another one of my post-holiday bragging sessions! ;)
I didn't get to have my usual homemade Thanksgiving dinner, so I woke up this morning, a day off ahead, and wanting it for breakfast. I threw together what I had on hand, and then realized, heck, this is vegan--a little bonus!
I had store bought mashed potatoes and pie.
I made some homemade cranberry sauce--so easy and perfect.
I drained a can of yams, added a blend of brown sugar, spices and melted margarine I made in the microwave. Done.
I had cornbread stuffing mix--done, obviously.
I made some gravy from margarine, flour, bouillon, milk (use whatever type of milk or cream you like) and fresh herbs. Done.
Sheesh, this meal is looking awfully starchy. Hmm. What can I add that has more protein? I had some frozen beans.
Before I go on--frozen pinto beans! I've recently discovered these and they are so convenient. Nothing added, just cooked beans that you can sprinkle in your dishes in whatever sized portions you like. You can even throw them on a salad you're packing for lunch and they'll be defrosted by the time you eat.
Ok, back to the meal. This was actually a really lazy way to make beans. To a baking pan, I added margarine, salt, pepper, cumin, diced onions, a carrot, beans, a dash of siracha sauce, and nonalcoholic beer. Threw that in the oven to let the liquids cook down. When it was done, I just mixed it with my hand blender until it had the consistency of loose refried beans.
The beans tasted awesome with gravy on them. Sounds weird to me, but sometimes when you have cravings, the belly wants what it wants--and you might think of an awesome idea if you listen to it! I was pretty shocked to see how easy it was to flavor them to complement the rest of the traditional meal.
After they baked for a while, I added the rest of the stuff to the oven to warm it up.
I cannot believe how awesome everything tasted, and it was all so easy!
