Let’s just say our meal this week is terribly…beany.
Gosh, I think I have even posted about beans, what, twice before for this challenge? Three times, maybe? We do love our beans, it is true; probably one dinner a week is Beans. That leaves six other meals per week that I could choose from that are Not Beans, pretty good odds! I have a couple of things to say in my defense, though.
Mainly, it’s a bit of a crazy week. Our daughter turns 6, and every day, it appears, there’s something else to be done to aid the celebration. There are at least three meals that are directly birthday-related (food is love) and sadly not all of them will be Dark Days-worthy…or they would be if Michigan grew chocolate. But! My husband wanted to cook (is the sky falling? was that just a pig I saw flying? did hell freeze?) and he said he wanted to make some beans.
A LOT of beans, it turns out! And: I was so shocked I forgot to photograph it.
Menu:
- Cuban Black Beans: our Black Turtle beans, Turino red (sweet) pepper, Hungarian (hot) ground red pepper, Copra onions, garlic, nonlocal cumin/pepper/salt, and greenhouse thyme and my friend’s greenhouse bay leaves.
- Baked Beans: our Navy beans, Copra onions, garlic, Golden Self-Blanching celery, smoked pork belly, local honey, and a friend’s maple syrup.
- Biscuits: home-milled hard red spring wheat, butter, home-made yogurt from our milk share.
- Greenhouse salad with homemade, homegrown yogurt dressing (yogurt, shallots, apple cider vinegar, parsley, applesauce with Michigan sugar).
Sounds great!
I am anxiously awaiting my copra onion seeds. The only thing I did not get in my seed shipment was my onion seeds, and they have to be started first!!
And I hope you gave your husband lots of positive feedback on his cooking. That’s a behavior you want to encourage!!
That is a lot of beans. Shockingly a lot. I hope you all enjoyed the birthday celebration.
Beany is not a bad thing! All of your seasonings, yum. Makes every bean taste even more different – not the monotony that one might jump to the conclusion about. Were the cuban black beans served with some liquid left in the cooking process? Sometimes I’ll do that for the “sauce” it makes once the spices are added… What am I saying? I love beans any which way.
Yikes! I’ve just been writing up a post on bean soup…I suppose it’s not too surprising that we all keep eating the same things, since we are all eating more in seasonal ways.
The seven-bean soup was a big success, and had me standing over my bowl trying to dissect out the individual varieties to assess their individual tastes. Was it you that I was discussing Good Mother Stallard with? They are tasty, indeed…I also really like the Hidatsa Sheild Figure beans that I grew, and some Jacob’s Cattle that came from our CSA.
And Happy Birthday to your little girl!!!
Beans sound like an excellent choice for a meal or two or seven. Hip hip hooray for you to have a substitute cook.
Personally, I think birthdays should last for a week; I’m just ending my week. In our family we begin with birthday eve.
I forgot the point of my birthday subject—Happy birthday to your assistant
Happy Birthday to the kid. The human kid.
Beans would please me just fine as a celebration feast.
Paula, indeed! Plus, a little ego rub doesn’t hurt, even if it sounds so…intentional on my part. Here’s hoping your onion seeds come quickly. Onions are pretty important.
Stef, yes, don’t wish to see another bean for at least a couple of days. Even if they were cheap and tasty.
MC, indeed, these were soup-y beans, best poured over rice (for the next day of course) or with eggs and tortillas. You’re right; bean-cooking liquid is kind of golden for making other things taste good. And no, there’s no such thing as too many beans.
Karen, I find it kind of comforting that many more of us are eating seasonally thus eating the same thing; makes one feel not quite like such an oddball if you’re not the only one doing it. I have had but not grown the Stallard beans; they’re on my long list of must-try. I tend to grow a lot of cranberry beans which serve the same purpose. And yes, the Solider and the shield and and and…there’s a whole world of beans so much bigger than any grocer’s shelf, a good thing.
Pamela, well, happy birthday to you too! And indeed the girl had over a week of celebrations of various forms, including yesterday when she actually picked out dinner too. It’s important, all this celebrating. And cooking, and eating…but wow I need to watch it on all that cake.
CC, yes, thanks! She had a lot of fun. And thankfully she enjoys her beans.
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