To truly understand the meaning of this recipe/adventure, it's necessary to take a step (or 6) back in time.
Scene: My mom's living room in California.
Time frame: Early Evening
Home from college for the holidays, I lay sprawled out on my stomach on my mom's plush ruby rug (carpets were a luxury item barred in my dorm) catching up on the tv shows I'd missed my first semester in college while simultaneous IMing 15 people on my laptop when a link from a friend popped up -- an infomercial for PETA. I don't know if it was the particularly influential friend who sent it (if only I could remember who it was...) or the lush carpeting suspending my judgement, but I proceeded to watch the 10 minute video documenting the harsh treatment of chickens, eggs, cows, and more with the curiosity of prepubescent teenager watching the "Miracle of Birth" sex ed video documenting the birthing process in the most graphic and unappealing way possible -- that is to say, I couldn't keep my horrified eyes off of it.
That day, I decided my new year's resolution was to take a stand against caged meat. And so I came to eat nothing but fish for the next year, since a) I figured fish were always free until they're caught and all and b) I couldn't afford to be buying / exclusively ordering cage-free products and it was just too confusing. Although that resolution only lasted a year (one in which I ate too much cereal and Indian food), I do still try to eat more vegetables and try non-meat substitutes when possible. Which leads me to:
Sausage and Peppers, Rice and Beans: Basic Delicious Flavors
This meal was like an episode of "Semi-Homemade" -- I bought a couple great basics at the store pretty much pre-prepared, then made something to go along with them.
1. Slice up some onions, red peppers, yellow peppers, and green peppers. Grill it up with some olive oil and get a color going on all of it. I threw in mushrooms, 'cause they're delicious. I added in some soy sausage product (Product Placement available here, always at Trader Joe's) and then seasoned the mixture with some basic Indian spices in my cabinet (curry powder was prominent). However, a basic mix of red pepper spice would have been great too.
To accompany Mexican Rice (I bought a delicious 4-min rice packet) and some Cuban Style Black Beans (Trader Joe's).
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