Plantains with Tempeh, Leftover Leek-Potato-Carrot-Barley Veloute

I was looking forward to using a plantain which I purchased last week and today it was mainly black - I like cooking with plantains when they get to this coloration. I sauteed tempeh for 6-8 minutes till it was brown, then added half moon diced sections of a small-medium leek (after cleaning it well) and sauteed for another 2-3 minutes. I then added some diced ginger and red jalapeno pepper, sauteed for an additional minute or so, added a touch of soy sauce, and turned the heat off. Then I mixed in some finely diced raw onion and let it sit in the hot pan for a minute or so. I sprinkled a little salt on top and served it with Lundberg Farms Black Japonica short-grained black and medium-grained mahogany rices that I had cooked with a vegan bouillon cube in my rice cooker. I also reheated the amazingly good (credit to the slow cooker!) thickened soup that I had made last week.

On Friday evening, I was a judge at the annual statewide NC Student Academy of Science competition for Middle School and High School entries in math and computer science and a boxed dinner (a pita wrap with vegetables and baked potato chips) was included. My wife and I visited Charlotte this weekend; she is part of a classical Indian musical group that met on Saturday, and a homemade Indian dinner was included. Yesterday, we spent the evening with friends of ours and shared two delicious pizzas at Wolfman Pizza, which uses no animal products in their crusts or sauces.