Vegan Planet Strikes Again!

For tonight's tasty dinner I paired two Vegan Planet recipes: Quinoa and Pan-Fried Corn with Orange Zest and Chives (p. 230) and Jerk-Spiced Portobello Steaks (p. 335). Cooking the steaks was a bit of an adventure. My kitchen stove lacks an exhaust hood and this recipe calls for adding a dry jerk rub to the portobello mushrooms. Everything would have been fine had I conformed to the 1/4c. olive oil recommendation in the recipe. But, being ever calorie-conscious, I cut the olive oil down to 2 Tbs. and a very smoky kitchen ensued. Dry spices + high heat = a whole new kind of indoor air pollution. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the jerk flavor. It was good for a break from my typical Mex/Indian/Thai/Chinese spicing patterns. The quinoa was delicious! I used the red variety for extra color and plating points. The orange zest in the quinoa was delicate and subtle, in nice contrast to the steaks. Tomorrow I vow to move on to a different cookbook and let Vegan Planet cool down.