Black Beans that Work with Everything (Protein, Protein, Protein!)
The beauty of this simple Bean recipe is that it works as a base or addition to just about everything.
- Spoon over any kind of eggs or use as a filling for an omelet.
- Mix it into leftover rice or hot pasta.
- Brown some ground beef/turkey/chicken/tofu with onion and garlic and stir some into a bowl of these beans.
- Add chicken or vegetable broth for a delicious bean soup.
- Toast a tortilla in a hot pan with a little oil/under the broiler/over a gas burner then slather on a healthy portion of beans, sprinkle with grated sharp cheddar cheese, and melt cheese in the pan (covered) or under the broiler and then add Chili Crisp to make it the best lunch or dinner ever! Put a fried egg on top for a superb breakfast!
A foot of snow was dumped on NYC yesterday. The forecast went from an Advisory to a Watch to a Warning and as the weather looked more and more dire, the lines at the grocery stores became longer and longer. After a walk on around my neighborhood on Saturday, I decided that my daughters and I could survive on what was in the pantry, which always has black beans and diced tomatoes.
A few weeks ago, a friend came to visit me after having a medical procedure done and brought a container of the best beans I ever had made by a friend of hers. Everyone is looking for ways to add protein to their diet and beans are an excellent way to do just that. I don’t like the texture of whole beans, so this mix of partial beans and pureed beans was something wonderful and delicious. We put them on eggs for breakfast, mixed them with left over pasta (or rice) for lunch, and mixed them with turkey browned with onion and garlic (in my case it was tofu browned with onion and garlic) for dinner. “How did she make this?” I asked. “She cooked the heck out of it,” my friend answered. And that is what you can do here (an immersion blender or potato masher makes it easy to get them to your preferred texture). Also, when you have a batch of these beans on hand they work for any meal and with lots of stuff lurking in your fridge or freezer.
Here are just some ideas on how to enjoy these beans (beyond a bowlful with some extra Chili Crisp on top):
- Spoon over any kind of eggs or use as a filling for an omelet.
- Mix it into leftover rice or hot pasta.
- Brown some ground beef/turkey/chicken/tofu with onion and garlic and stir some into a bowl of these beans.
- Add chicken or vegetable broth for a delicious bean soup.
- Toast a tortilla in a hot pan with a little oil/under the broiler/over a gas burner then slather on a healthy portion of beans, sprinkle with grated sharp cheddar cheese, and melt cheese in the pan (covered) or under the broiler and then add Chili Crisp to make it the best lunch or dinner ever! Put a fried egg on top for a superb breakfast!