Florida on a plate, biscotti

Last I checked, it's gonna be in the low 30's tonight . . . which is just crazy to me. I decided to warm up by making a wonderful Florida inspired meal of black beans, yellow rice and fried plantains. I grew up eating this food so I still really enjoy eating it, especially with hot sauce splashed all over everything. The black beans had onions, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, oregano, tomato paste and a bit of red wine vinegar at the last minute of cooking. The yellow rice is just a pre-seasoned packet of yellow rice that turned out to be accidentally vegan. OHHH, and fried plantains . . . what until the skin turns black on the plantain (trust me!), peel and thinly slice on a bias, fry in canola oil (or olive oil) on low-medium heat until golden brown. Frying on a lower heat insures the sugars develop in the plantains before they burn. If you've never had a fried plantain, you best get ya one and try it now. It's like eating dessert with your dinner. The beans and rice are usually topped with a thinly chopped sweet onion, but tonight we had red onion, which was still very tasty.

I also made the hazelnut-chocolate biscotti from Veganomicon (pg. 241) that turned out pretty awesome. It is not a super sweet cookie but has a deep, rich taste. Making biscotti is a two-step process but these are so worth it if you are a biscotti fan. Even though I no longer drink coffee, these were still good on their own . . . and I'm sure even better dunked in a latte made with hazelnut milk.