Friday, April 28, 2006

TGIF! - Barbecue "Rib" Sandwich

I am so glad it's Friday. For today's lunch I packed a vegan version of one of my favorite really bad foods from my carnivore days. It's a sandwich that appears from time to time at a certain restaurant, who shall remain nameless, but it starts with Mc. HA! I used to really like eating the barbecue rib sandwich there, except for the times that I would chomp down on a big glob of fat, gristle or something else unidentifiable. Lucky for us, Gardenburger has produced these Barbecue Riblets that taste just like the non-vegan kind. I think this is one of their more popular products, and if you try it you will see why. I originally planned this lunch thinking that I had some whole wheat hot dog buns left over, which hold the riblet perfectly, but after I got it cooked up I discovered that I did not. So I ended up cutting the thing in half and putting it on a whole wheat hamburger bun. I threw the other half in the fridge and I might eat it later today for a snack.

I had some scrambled tofu (from the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz) in the fridge from the other night so I threw it into the red container. I make this stuff every week and I almost always have some hanging out in the fridge. Sometimes I heat it up before I eat it, but it is also very delicious when you just eat it cold. It's one of those things that has so many spices in it that the flavors just get better the day after you make it, and then even better the day after that. It's good stuff.

For a couple of raw things, I threw in some trusty carrots and some homemade trail mix containing walnuts, cashews, raisins, dried cranberries and some bananas that I dehydrated myself. This stuff is so good, I could just sit down and eat a huge bowl of it. I have great big bags of the individual ingredients from the bulk section of the health food store sitting in my cabinets at home, so you can probably expect to see a lot more of this stuff in the near future.

Well, that's all for today. Hopefully this weekend will be really nice and I can get some quality time in on the boat at the lake this weekend. I think that my favorite place to hang out on the water, Sonny's Marina, is opening this weekend. I don't think they have anything that I can eat there, but that won't stop me from pulling the boat in and drinking a pitcher of beer while I listen to the live music. ;o)

Thanks for stopping by and have a SUPER weekend! See you on Monday.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you mentioned that you are trying to eat more raw foods. I am also trying to do the same. I thought I'd share a simple side dish that I made for my lunch the other day. It was so simple and so yummy. I don't have a name or a real recipe for it....

Shredded carrot (I use the veggie peeler) - pat the shredded carrots dry with a paper towel

A couple drops of toasted sesame oil & drop of canola oil (I used very little)

Chopped cilantro to taste

Salt to taste

kennyboy said...

kelly - I've been meaning to make some kind of salad with shredded carrots and maybe raisins, or something like that, for a while. I might try your recipe instead.

jane m - I think they are extrememly good. Probably the best meat analog that I know of. My best friend told a girl he works with about them, she got some and was eating one on a bun and gave her husband a bite. He said that he didn't know that they had the McRib at McDonald's right now. She told him that it wasn't from McDonald's, that she bought them at the store. She never did tell him that they weren't made of meat, and he is a meat eater! I think they are that good.

Anonymous said...

Ummm, Riblets. They are fabulous. Last summer I went to a BBQ where I knew I was going to be the only vegan, so had to bring my own main dish. I put a thawed riblet into foil and when I got there, I put the foil packet on the gas grill. When I put it on my plate, everyone commented about how good it smelled, looked, etc. They were amazed it wasn't really meat. I always have a box in my freezer for a quick meal.

Your blog is really fun. I like these lap top lunches and especially yours since it is geared toward adult lunches.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm...

I love those Gardenburger Riblets!

karen said...

The riblets are so good. They are best crispy on the outside from a toaster oven. I also love the scrambled tofu from VwaV. It is a fantastic recipe, so flavorful.

kennyboy said...

Yeah, I don't know if I would like it just all by itself. I like it on a bun, and usually with some chopped onions and a pickle or two. Just like they serve it you know where.

That would've been awesome to just be sitting there eating lunch and see Bruce Campbell walk in.

I actually live close (less than an hour) to where Evil Dead was filmed. I keep meaning to drive over there so I can see what's left of the cabin. There's not much left though. Just a tin roof and a bunch of trash. Seems like when some of the "religious" people around there heard what the movie was about, they took it upon themselves to sneak in there on private property and burn the place to the ground. Hmph... go figure.