Google Images

Sorry I'm late. ' Took a little Google detour today. Did you know that you can find many interesting things online, things that you had NO idea you were looking for, by simply feeding that wide Google mouth a word? Say you type in Beans and hit enter. Voila, a list of websites appears. On the left hand side of the page is a list of words to help you narrow your search. One of the words on the list is Images. Give Images a tap and for those of you who are visual, like me, hundreds of bean pictures magically appear. Mr Bean, coffee beans, green beans, black beans, all varieties of beans, bean cartoons, bean sprouts, jelly beans, bean t-shirts. Enough. You see a picture that is especially interesting to you? Let your cursor hover over the image, Google shows you the link to the source of that picture. And off you go.



Why did I take this trip? Because I am going to talk about rice and beans today. Rice and Beans. Been there, done that. I was searching for a little zing and zip to brighten this post. I found cookbooks dedicated to beans. I found a novel titled Rice and Beans. It was a pleasant hour. I've decided that rice and beans, the combination that gives us a complete protein, all of the essential amino acids, are fascinating.

These simple ingredients, rice and beans are the beginning of many a fine meal. In many countries, rice and beans are the staple. Rice and beans are a staple at my house and I never tire of them.

Like soup or salad, beans, when you have made them a hundred times, become a second nature dish to fix. On Sunday, I cooked a pot of small red beans, froze most of them and put 2 cups in the refrigerator for today's dinner. This morning I found a can of El Pato tomato sauce with jalapeno, an onion, parsley, garlic and celery to go into the pot with the beans. I decided to add some cumin and coriander to the pot. I'm measuring today and tasting as I go.

Red Beans

2 cups cooked red beans

1/4 cup tomato sauce with Jalapeno

1/3 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

cumin, coriander and salt to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon of each)

Combine the beans, tomato sauce, parsley in a pan and heat through while in a small sauce pan you saute the celery, onion and garlic in the oil until the onion is translucent. Add the vegetables to the beans. Add spices to taste. Allow this pot to simmer for about 10 to 20 minutes to combine the flavors. 

As this red dish cooks, I begin to think of the plate. Of course it will have some brown rice sitting beside the beans. Pretty. The plate could use a touch of green. I have just the thing. A bunch of local asparagus that I got at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. 

Simple ingredients, cooked simply. Elegant.