Adventures in Cooking: Lazy Vegan Protein Bowl

I never realized how much restaurant dining was part of my life until it stopped being part of my life.

A year ago, I thought I was dining out less often, but just look at me now! In my geographic region, all restaurants have been closed since the middle of March, so I haven't had table service since at least that long ago. It's still possible to order carry-out, but, as I quickly came to realize, about half the fun of dining out was the company, and half was the ambience. Without either of those things, the remaining draw of the restaurant – the food – doesn't really seem worth the price any more. So I mostly stopped buying it.

As it turns out, once you your continuous influx of restaurant leftovers dries up, you have to be a lot more proactive in providing yourself with nourishment. For me, that meant actually cooking, something I've never been good at. Since I was embarking on a learning experience, I thought it would be beneficial for me to document my progress, so I kept a list of every recipe I prepared from March 16 to April 10. In that three-week period, I tried 16 new recipes, most of which I disliked (for the record, my favorite so far has been Old Fashioned Potato Salad, which I modified heavily with my usual adventurous flair!). I continued the cooking spree after that, but I stopped keeping track, because, well, no one cares.

With so many Adventures in Cooking! occurring at an unprecedented rate, they had lost their novelty factor. I decided not to blog about each and every (or even) one of them, but the one type of cooking adventure I decided was still worth recording is the type in which I invent the recipe myself!

So here is a new one for your perusal! It's an ingenious 2-minute meal that might even rival my world-famous Nearly Nachos. Sans spiciness, devoid of dairy, and absent of alliums, yet somehow still enjoyable to eat, it's a picky vegetarian's protein-packed dream dinner (at least, if said vegetarian has low standards)! It's...

The Lazy Vegan Protein Bowl!

Ingredients

• Frozen shelled edamame beans (only a masochist buys edamame beans still in the pod)
• Dijon mustard
• Quinoa

Steps

1. Measure out about as many edamame beans as you think will make a satisfying meal for you (I used about 1/3 cup. It was not quite enough!)
2. Microwave the beans until they are hot (66 seconds worked for me!)
3. Add a spoonful of dijon mustard and stir.
4. Sprinkle with a topping of uncooked quinoa* (I used approximately 1Tbsp)

Eat and enjoy!

*At last! I've discovered the secret to making quinoa somewhat palatable! Rather than cooking it into a gritty porridge of bland homogeneity, simply sprinkle it on top of other foods while still raw. The same nondescript grain that's unbearably boring when cooked becomes the very texture to complete the meal when used uncooked. Quinoa—the spice of life! Will wonders never cease?