Animal Writings

• Black beans are the "gentle beans." A good starter bean if you're new to beans. They are amazingly versatile and quite tasty. They are a mainstay in so many cultures. Another incentive to expand your culinary horizons.
  
  If you buy a can of black beans, it may very well have a recipe for an easy black bean soup on the side. If not, do an online search for "recipe vegan easy black bean soup" and have at it. Basic black bean soup recipes usually call for rice, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, corn, and some spices. But the variations on this dish are amazing. It's like 10,000 dishes in one.


• Beans and rice. OMG. I could practically live on this. The variations are ENDLESS. Black beans and rice are a wonderful South of the Border staple. Red beans and rice—we're talking New Orleans. But that's just the start.
  
  You might remember during the interview with Dino I said I would mention Better Homes and Gardens (BHG)? If you go to the BHG recipe page and enter "beans rice" (without the quotes) in the search form, you'll get back over 70 recipes, about 60 of which are true beans and rice, or—bonus—beans and some other grain, like orzo, couscous, or bulgur. Most are vegan or can be veganized very easily. You cannot get any more mainstream than BHG! It's great to see beans and rice representing so well in the heartland. Cheap, tasty, super-healthy, tons of variety, very decent eco-footprint -- please enjoy liberally—even if you're a conservative!

Labels: black beans, diet, legumes