Passive-aggressive beans
For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I was extremely irritated tonight when I was making dinner. I wasn't in the mood to follow a recipe, and I wound up throwing dinner together with a little more force than necessary. As it turned out rather good, though, I thought I'd write down what I made.
You will need:
-about a quarter of a yellow onion
-1 15-oz can black beans
-1 15-oz can white beans (could use kidney beans instead)
-1 stick celery
-half a carrot
-about 4 Tbsp lemon juice
-olive oil
-1/2 tsp crushed garlic
-about ten peanuts
-various spices (I used cumin, coriander, Hungarian hot paprika, and coarse black pepper)
-loud music in the background, if possible (I started with Lady Gaga, but switched to Queen pretty quickly as I can't listen to more than one Lady Gaga song at a time for some reason)
Instructions:
Chop the onion into small bits. Very small. About the size of your pinky fingernail. Also chop the carrot into pieces about that size and also the celery. Feel free to chop loudly in time with the music, depending on how irritated you are. "Bad Romance" is very satisfying to chop things to for some reason.
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil in a pan on the stove, until either you get tired of sauteeing or the onions go mostly transluscent. Throw in the celery and carrots about a minute after you start sauteeing. While sauteeing, add about half of the lemon juice. Switch music from Lady Gaga to Queen. "Don't Stop Me Now" is a good one to start with.
When sauteeing is complete, add the black and white beans. It is nice if they're drained but not necessary if you're lazy. Stir them around and add the rest of the lemon juice. Sing along loudly to "Another One Bites the Dust".
Add some spices, to taste. I added about half a teaspoon coarse black pepper, a quarter teaspoon Hungarian Paprika, a quarter cumin, and a third-ish of coriander. Revel in the ridiculousness of "Flash".
Turn the heat down so it's simmering. Chop the peanuts very, very small and stir them into the beans. Cover them and let simmer for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. If necessary, add a little water so there will be something for them to simmer in. Clean up to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and feel much less irritated than when you began.
Serve over rice, or not if you don't feel like it. Parmesan cheese goes well on this.
Possible variations: curry powder, bacon salt, cayenne pepper, add meat somehow (personally I'd do chicken, though beef would work), maybe peppers or tomatoes if you're feeling really wild. Also I may possibly eventually experiment with putting beer in it, because I have a huge weakness for chili made with beer.
My notes: DON'T FORGET THE PEANUTS. Unless you're allergic, in which case DO FORGET THE PEANUTS.
How were YOUR evenings?
-still fuming a little bit-