Paint it Blackened

As you all know by now, I've been on a steady diet of veggies and whole grains for the past 2 weeks. Suffice to say that the only meal I've eaten out during this time was at the raw restaurant last weekend. However, today, I wanted to take advantage of my Free Birthday Meal from Veggie Grill. Normally, when I eat a meal at Veggie Grill, it looks something like this:

I just had a Pavlovian Response to this photo!

But today, since I was trying to be, more or less, good (I confess I was in no mood to be good last night. Someone was buying my drinks in exchange for some work I've been helping him with, so let's just say the Manhattans were flowing! After that night of fun, I had to be a better girl today!), my meal looked like this:

Hey, a plate with quinoa, a green veggie, fruit and some form of protein! This is the recent story of my life!

However, there was another reason why I chose this meal option, aside from doing penance after my night of I'll Take Manhattan(s). Because this was the Blackened Chickin' Plate... and guess who doesn't like things that are prepared "blackened!"

You can imagine that, as a vegan, I don't often encounter blackened food. Its probably been 25 years since I've eaten anything blackened. Upon biting into my blackened chickin', I could see why I didn't like it. I mean, it does taste of charcoal. Let's be honest.... "blackened" really means "burnt... but burnt on purpose." But I figure if I can enjoy a smoky scotch, I am also sophisticated enough to appreciate a blackened piece of chickin'! And besides, I've been so hungry lately, I could probably bring myself to eat a blackened boot! ;-)

Anyway, I liked it just fine. I wouldn't say I prefer the flavor of blackened to something that is NOT burnt, but by the end of my meal, I was pretty much past my objections to my charcoal flavored lunch. And now that I have gone black, I will surely go back.... but the next time I try my hand at eating something blackened, my meal is gonna look a bit more like this:

I want bread, french fries, and creamy vegan sauce.

But until then.... Even Yet Still More Veggies!!!! :-/