Sequestration Meal #434

 

Welcome back to "we're avoiding harsh realities by cooking elaborate comfort food"! In this installment, we have a slice of a Field Roast Sage & Garlic Celebration Roast, asparagus with homemade vegan Hollandaise sauce (recipe from Cadry's Kitchen), and mushroom-barley pilaf with peas and carrots (recipe from The Vegan Atlas).

Someone told me that the vegan roast I bought from Trader Joe's was really just the Field Roast one in different packaging, and it could be purchased year-round; this was both true and not true. It is the same (amazing, delicious) roast, but where I live, the grocery store only stocks it at certain times. But hey. That's what freezers are for.

I tried making Hollandaise not long after my decision to transition to veganism, and it was disappointing. I went into this round with Hollandaise having lowered expectations. Although this is really good--I mean, it's a cashew cream sauce, so what can you expect other than deliciousness?--it did not remind me of Hollandaise except in color and texture. It's okay, though. It goes really well with asparagus and I had realistic expectations. Plus it has a lovely lemony flavor.

I loved this barley recipe! Barley is one of those things we can eat more of in these challenging times, given how cheap it is. Heck, this whole recipe is pretty darn cheap and if you add a can of beans you'll have a whole meal. I'd had this recipe pinned on my Pinterest board for ages and probably intended to make it in the winter; it might make more sense as a winter dish. But for a warm day, I could cook my barley in a rice cooker while steaming a carrot in the steamer attachment (for the Hollandaise) and not have to heat up my kitchen too much, so I think it works out really well in warm times. Although this does seem like a high effort meal, the part with me standing there stirring stuff over a stove was pretty short--maybe 15 minutes or so. But I'd love this in winter, too. I'll be making this barley again!

Do you have a favorite neglected grain out there? Let me know. I love to explore while I avoid harsh reality.