warm me up beans

some days you just feel so cold inside, no matter how warm it is. (80F for the record). even though most of my friends at other schools have finished their finals, we still have two weeks to go, and that means it is CRUNCH TIME which is not so good for general happiness.

despite being warm, the weather doesn’t help

It was a rough day. But instead of coming home and collapsing for the evening, I only collapsed for about 20 minutes. Then I pulled myself out of bed, grabbed a can of black beans and went to the kitchen.

45 minutes later, I present to you:

The Best Beans I Have Made Yet (though that’s not saying much.)

They’re subtle but still flavorful and not too spicy. (I am really proud of the spices though – I’ve been shy with them recently, but this turned out really well!)

Cooking them for about 20-30 minutes leaves the beans softer but still holding their shape and texture, avoiding some of the overcooked sad that has left my pan. I apologize for the lack of measurements – this was kind of spur of the moment.

non-photogenic kitchen!

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cans black beans
• 1/4 large yellow onion
• olive oil
• garlic powder (or actual garlic)
• Smoked paprika (less spicy than what I normally use)
• cumin, my fav!
• oregano

Rinse yer beans – I don’t like the goopy stuff that comes with them straight from the can. I have a colander (actually we have three. thanks roommates!) but you can rinse them in a bowl and drain most of the water. Put the beans in a pot with some water. I used ~1/2 cup, but you could stand to use a little less. In any case, the beans shouldn’t be covered in water. You can always pour some out at the end though.

Add a “drizzle” of olive oil (this probably translates to about 1/2-1 teaspoon). Then libreally add garlic powder, paprika, cumin and oregano. I put in the most cumin and paprika and the least garlic powder since it’s pretty potent. They probably all came in around the 1/4-1/2 teaspoon range. The nice thing about these beans is that you can always add another can if it ends up too cumin-y or something. Also! add a dash of salt. Don’t be like me and forget.

Then let those lil fellas cook on medium heat for ABOUT 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

now then, chop your onion up. Add a little olive oil to the pan (enough to coat the bottom – for this reason, I recommend using a small pan). Put the onions in and let the whole thing sit over low-medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep them from burning. They should get soft and a little sweeter.

Taste it periodically, and eat it when the texture is good. We had it with mac n’ cheese because I didn’t have a burner for rice.

Verdict from Dmitry: “I did not expect to have such a delicious dinner tonight!”

wine pairing: just kidding, but it is nice to eat with guava juice

I gotta say, I feel much more cheerful now.

and it’s not even altered!

(some of the credit should go to David Bowie though)

sriracha stirfry

okay, there are a fair amount of ingredients and fairly long instructions,  but don’t worry. The instructions may seem long but they’re all pretty easy. The vegetables and tofu are pretty cheap. The vinegar, soy sauce, sriracha sauce and worschestshire sauce are more expensive – I wouldn’t buy them for a one time dish –  but they will last a long time and are useful in other dishes… especially sriracha sauce, which is delicious on pizza. (it’s also pretty cheap in the right places – check the Asian section of the grocery store.) If you don’t want to buy you might be able to find these ingrediants from a friend or in a communal kitchen. My school has an online marketplace where you can obtain most ingredients on the cheap.

Note: the sauce can be scaled up or down depending on how much you want. If you’re doing a smaller batch, you can always save leftover sauce – it’ll be good for awhile. I also like my sauces tangy, so you may need to tone down the vinegar a bit. However, independent sources have declared the sauce “yummy” and “delicious”

If it ends up being too spicy you can:

• use less of it for marinating the tofu/don’t marinate the tofu as long
• put less of it in  😦
• dilute it  with more soy sauce/vinegar
• eat it with lots of plain rice!

ingredients 

• 6tbs rice vinegar *
• 6tbs soy sauce (lite) *
• 1 tbs oil (recommend: sesame, but others are fine) *
• 3/4 tsp sriracha *
• 1/2 tsp worschetshire sauce *
• 1 tsp sugar *
• 1 lb tofu
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 onion
• couscous or rice
• sesame seeds

potential add ins: ginger, chili flakes, garlic; curry powder is a definite plus

Easy; time: 2 hours, but you don’t have to watch it the whole time.

This makes ~ 6 servings, but it is easy to scale down.

directions: 

combine marinade ingredients. cut up tofu and then marinade it – to do this, put the tofu in a dish and pour the marinade over it until it completely covers the tofu. Let it marinate for about an hour.

In the meantime, chop the carrots, celery and onion. Larger pieces are fine – they’ll cook down.

First: sautee onion. Put a little oil in the pan – enough to lightly coat the bottom of the frying pan. Once it is hot (remember: you can test this by dropping a piece of onion in. does it sizzle. If yes, you’re set) put the onions in the pan and cook over medium heat. They should soften and brown, but not burn. make sure to turn them over every once and a while.

The times are fairly flexible – once you put them in, they can sit for a while (just turn the heat down). When you have about 45 – 30 minutes of cook time left, add the tofu, carrot and celery. Cook in essentially the same way. You can add a little of the marinade to taste, but careful: it’s easy to overdo it. Let the whole thing sit on medium heat with occasional stirring.

If there is a lot of liquid in the bottom of the pan you can take out the veggies and tofu and then add a little flour (or cornstarch if you happen to have it) to thicken it. keep it over the heat for a minute or so while stirring to do so.

Serve it warm over the carb of your choice. Sesame seeds are a nice finishing touch. Refrain from salting it – even the lite soy sauce is pretty salty.

sriracha stirfry. inaccurately named. slightly spicy. super delicious.