Beans

Okay, let's talk about beans. And no, not about how they're the magical fruit, but about how the hell did I never really eat them until college?! They are just about the easiest, cheap, nutritious thing for simple meals (the number of times I've eaten beans and rice and in the last year is crazy, and I'm still not sick of it). Until very recently I had only ever bought beans in cans, but knew that I could make this already cheap food even cheaper if I started with a bag of dried beans. But for some reason I was intimidated by the cooking process of beans, which probably stems from my complete inability to cook rice on the stove top successfully (all hail my rice cooker and microwave). But as it turns out, way easier than rice.

The above picture are the dry kidney beans and chickpeas in jars, on top of some that have soaked in water all day while I went to work. And after I drained them they looked like so:

Then into new boiling water with a pinch of salt. I just stir and check on them periodically (ie: during commercial breaks) until they're done (I eat one occasionally near the end of the cooking process to figure that one out). Way easier than cooking rice on the stove. Then rice and beans for ever! (or hummus :) See you next Tuesday!