'Rapido Panzanella', Tempeh, Corn, Mango Sticky Rice (from a restaurant)

Because I am apparently contagious, I couldn't go to a friend's housewarming party, but my wife went and brought home a dish from a new local Thai restaurant, Twisted Noodles (their online menu promises that all dishes can be made vegan!). I served that dish, Mango Sticky Rice, as dessert - it was so good that I ate one more after dinner! It is a sweet sticky rice that is formed into a log, and served with a delicious piece of mango. (Bad news! After she got home, she started seeing little spots on her body! She is planning tomorrow morning on going to the hospital where I was diagnosed to see if she also has what I have.)

For dinner, it was late and I wanted to put something on the table reasonably quickly. I was thinking of doing something with the delicious lemon rosemary sourdough bread, and thought of the bread salad (panzanella) that is often one of my cooking class students' favorite dishes. I made a shortcut version of this dish; I cut up several slices of the bread, as well as a few slices of a black olive bread, into roughly 3/4" cubes and tossed in a big bowl with a tablespoon or tablespoon and a half of olive oil and several diced garlic cloves. I put the coated bread on a flat tray, which I put in a preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes to get toasted croutons. I mixed the croutons with diced tomato, lemon cucumber, and sweet onion, along with fresh oregano leaves, shredded basil, and rosemary needles, as well as a little rosemary vinegar and salt and pepper. I covered it and let it marinate in the refrigerator till we were ready to eat.

I also sauteed some tempeh (always tasty). Finally, I grilled some corn on the gas range's flame, stripped the kernels, and mixed in Earth Balance margarine and salt and fresh lemon juice.

By the way, tonight I conditioned my new polished steel paella pan. I washed it with soap (for the first and only time, presumably), dried it thoroughly, then added a thin coating of high flashpoint canola oil to the bottom and sides and let it stay on a low-medium flame; the picture shows it 15 minutes into seasoning (the inside is supposed to turn brown).