Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Spotlight on the Side and BBQ Wars

Very rarely does the side dish get the spotlight. Today is your day to shine!! Without further adieu, here is the Green Bean and Corn salsa from vegetarian times (a few issues back).




This was an very tasty side dish indeed. I used frozen sweet white corn instead of fresh, used about 1/4 of the red onion called for, doubled the cilantro, and added a touch of olive oil for flavor. Next time I may add more jalapeno for an extra kick, but otherwise, this was just about perfect.


On the side, let's say, was grilled bbq seitan ribz, finally! I decided to have my own little bbq sauce war, since I always seem to be trying to find the perfect bbq sauce, not too sweet, just the right about of heat, and a nice smoky flavor. True to my heritage (yes, as much as I'd sometimes like to deny my Texas heritage, sometimes it makes me proud) , I tried out two rival Texas brands, one from Fredricksburg and another from neighboring Austin (a woman-owned company, roar!).




The winner? For me, it was a bit of a toss up. John's favorite was the Austin's own, he thought the peach pecan was too sweet and tasted too much like worchestire sauce. But I thought it was a little spicier, which I liked. I think next time we may go for the Austin's Own chipotle bbq sauce. And just so they don't feel left out, here's a photo of the ribz pre-grill. I made a double match for the war, so I'm still eating leftovers two days later!! Nothing wrong with that....

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

your ribs look like perfection! and BBQ sauce? I could drink the stuff by the gallon. :D

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

sometimes i like sides better than the main dish. yr ribs look amazing though! we are for sure a BBQ sauce house!

Anonymous said...

i really need to give those ribs a try... i will look for those BBQ sauce next time around :)

aTxVegn said...

I know what you mean about the Texas stereotype, but it still exists! I like to think Austin isn't quite as "Texas" as say, Ft.Worth or Amarillo. And I can still be a proud Texas who doesn't own a pickup or a single pair of cowboy boots.

I think you could have barbecue sauce wars for a year. We have so many good ones to choose from. I saw that salad recipe in Veg Times and thought it look so good. I would have upped the cilantro too!

Anonymous said...

yum, yum!! this looks so good!

nice post.

Judy said...

OOh, first off, I missed the s'mores post below....yummy!

And that salad sounds great. I am not a big fan of green beans, but I can tolerate them 'in' something - maybe one day I will even 'like' them in something!

MeloMeals said...

Love the bean and corn combo.. and the ribz look great... they freeze really well too..

Sheree' said...

I love these ribs! They are great cold for breakfast too. I am suppose to make these today, request of DH so he can share them tomorrow with his buddies. A bunch of OMNI'S want vegan ribz. Yahoo!

I will have to double the recipe for them too. Yours look great and I think from the description I would enjoy the Peach Pecan BBQ sauce. I think there may have to be a BBQ war in our home too. How fun!