Black bean salad

This is one of my favorite dishes to bring to a pot-luck. None of the ingredients had a face. The only mother these ingredients have is Mother Nature.

As much as I love to cook, I never watch the Food Network, not even for Nigella Lawson. Now that I’ve got you thinking about food porn, here’s the first recipe I’ve ever published here on this blog.

There are a lot of ingredients, but my instructions are detailed. It is incredibly easy to make and comes together quickly. The cayenne pepper and the green chiles give it a “pleasant kick.” However, that which is a “pleasant kick” to me might feel like a thermonuclear warhead detonation to others. For those of you who can’t take the heat, reduce or omit the cayenne pepper or use plain diced tomatoes. But how much fun is that?

Ingredients

1lb. of dry black beans

4 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of water (use bottled or filtered water, remember my 10 tips?)

15oz can of whole kernel corn, preferably the “no salt added” variety

10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with chiles (I like Ro-Tel or Target brand the best)

1 cup of chopped red onions

3 limes

8-10 cloves of garlic

1/2 oz. fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 cup olive oil

4 tbsp. oregano

2 tbsp. sea salt

2 tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the beans overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse.
2. Combine black beans, 4 cups vegetable broth, 2 cups water, 4-5 cloves of garlic (chopped), oregano, sea salt, cumin and cayenne pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat then reduce to a gentle simmer for 2 hours. Gently stir the beans as little as possible. You don’t want to break the skins. Your house will smell awesome for a few hours.
3. Toward the last half of the simmering process, add the olive oil.
4. Drain the beans and save the broth. Set the broth and about 2 cups of the beans aside. This is your bonus. You will have the beginnings of a tasty black bean soup.
5. Drain the corn and diced tomatoes. Save the water you just drained and add it to the soup base.
6. Combine the beans, corn, diced tomatoes, onions, the rest of the garlic (finely minced) and the juice and pulp from 3 limes in a large bowl. Mix together and enjoy!

Notes

This dish can be served cold. The flavor improves as it reaches room temperature.

You can wait until the dish is ready to serve before adding the chopped cilantro and lime juice.

There is no such thing as “too much cilantro.”

Garnish it with avocado slices. The fat content of the avocado goes great with the pleasant kick of the chiles.

Don’t let the corn scare you. There’s a total of 60 grams of carbs in the entire yield. If you believe that low-carb baloney, there’s plenty of fiber in the black beans to bring that “net carbs” number down significantly. Carbs are good for you. Do you realize you burn off the calories in 20 grams of carbs just by sitting on your ass for an hour?

If you’re worried about gaseous anomalies, add some tumeric and a pinch of sugar.

A quick and easy meal doesn’t have to mean, “pierce film to vent. rotate once during heating.” If you make Hamburger Helper often enough to skip reading the instructions, we have a problem.

Step 1 is to take the advice of personal finance bloggers. Cooking at home saves money. Further, it saves time and is an enjoyable activity if you pick up the tips below. You’ll discover some of your own too.

Cooking is part science, but mostly art. You don’t have to be a creative person to employ these tips. Your taste buds will guide you here. No matter what your comfort level in the kitchen is, you know what tastes good.

I’m one of those “recipe? I don’t need no stinkin’ recipe” type of cooks. Instead, I will share some bits of wisdom I learned over the last 22 years in the kitchen.

10 Ways To Enjoy Cooking At Home More

1. Mince several cloves of garlic at once. Keep it in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Use it instead of garlic powder. Use it liberally.
2. Not every part of the meal needs to be a “home run.” If you’re doing something elaborate for the meat, go simple on the side dishes. If you’re making a process-intensive vegetable side dish, just add some simple seasonings to the meat and broil it.
3. Keep frozen vegetable puree on hand. I prepare some vegetable puree about once a month and make “ice cubes.” These cubes are easy to add to spaghetti sauce, shells and cheese, gravies, and other sauces. In a fit of inspiration, I defrosted some of these “veggiecicles” in a skillet, added curry powder, parboiled potatoes, and chopped onions – instant vegetable curry! Just add basmati rice and you have some Indian fast food that’s actually good for you.
4. Invest in a good chef knife. It really makes a difference. I’ve used the same Henckels chef knife for over 10 years. Food preparation (or any task) becomes a joy when you use high quality tools. A good German-made Henckels will outperform and outlast any late-night infomercial knife. Get it sharpened professionally on a regular basis. Take care of it and it will last a lifetime.
5. Use fresh ingredients whenever you can. Fresh vegetables taste better than their frozen or canned counterparts. Spices grown in your garden have more kick.
6. Avoid using prepackaged “seasoning blends” if you have an adverse reaction to MSG. Make your own seasoning blends, or add seasonings individually. Learn about the different spices in your spice rack by tasting them.
7. Use natural sea salt instead. Do a side-by-side comparison and you’ll really taste the difference. Regular table salt tastes metallic and bitter compared to sea salt.
8. When you are shopping, choose versatile staples. Spaghetti noodles can be made into spaghetti. You can also add sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger to turn it into delicious Asian-inspired stir fry noodles.
9. You don’t have to follow the instructions to the letter when making pre-packaged “instant” meals. Be wild. Be adventurous. Use chicken or tofu instead of tuna when you make the box of Tuna Helper. Add some fresh vegetables. Add plenty of garlic. If the instructions call for milk, substitute a small portion of that with whipping cream. It makes it taste better. Add more butter than the instructions call for. It won’t hurt you.
10. Don’t be afraid to experiment and deviate from the recipe you found online. You won’t ruin a dish because you added more basil or rosemary than the recipe called for. Your taste buds (and your family’s) will guide you. Successful experiments (they happen more than you think) will bolster your confidence in the kitchen.

Since #9 and #10 are actually very similar, here’s a bonus tip – Food handling safety. NEVER use a wooden cutting board to prepare raw meat. The porous surface will harbor bacteria. Designate one cutting board for raw meat. Sterilize it in the dishwasher after every use.

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I don’t post every day, but I write almost every day. There are several articles in the works, both here and over at ReneeAndElliott.com, our repository for off-topic articles. There is other non-writing work that goes on behind the scenes. Then I have to go live my life so I can blog about it. So yeah, I’m toast.

Even in this impaired state, I can still offer you one quick cooking tip. It’s an oldie but goodie with a new twist.

We all wish our children would eat more vegetables. Some parents have better luck than I do. A trick favored by many resident chefs is to puree vegetables and add the mix to various sauces.

The other night, I pureed a pound of carrots, added some to the spaghetti sauce. The remaining puree was poured into a couple of freezer bags. Next time I need some vegetable puree, I’ll just break off a piece and add it to the sauce.

For the next round, I’m going to use the ice cube tray to make things a little easier.

It’s so simple, a caveman can do it.

If you saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico, please make a donation.

This blog is evolving and growing. I’ve written about things I didn’t originally envision. Some topics I planned to cover haven’t yet been touched upon. Cooking is one of those topics originally slated for coverage.

Food is a broad and general topic, but I can focus on how it applies to families today. What will you learn from me, other than high fructose corn syrup is evil?

• The secrets on how to make some of my not-yet-famous entrées and side dishes.
• What to stock your kitchen with. The freezer is your friend.
• Ideas for quick meals that are really quick.
• Concepts for a more efficient workflow in the kitchen.
• The occasional tidbit of nutritional wisdom.

Here’s my biggest challenge. How am I going to teach you when I don’t follow recipes? I’m following in the footsteps of ethnic grandmothers everywhere. All that information is stored away in my head. The measuring spoon is buried in my kitchen junk drawer. Solving this problem is worth the effort to my readers. If you’re so inclined, you’ll learn how to make some delicious meals that are usually healthy. Be forewarned. I’m a big fan of butter.

I’m looking forward to this. The next best thing to doing something you enjoy is to write about it.