Vegan Mofo VI Day 1: Beans Beans, They're Good For Your ♥

I love Mexican food and since I am Mexican-American, you'd think I would be great at preparing it, right? I hate to break it to you, but I am not. My family has been in the states for quite some time now so there isn't too much that is done fresh and from scratch. Most of us do not have the time or the patience for that these days. Also, it's not like anyone will give you an honest to goodness recipe you can follow. "Oh I put the water to about here, then I just keep an eye on them". Where is "here" on my pot? I don't have the same one as you. I'm not an old school cooking genius, I need guidelines, measurements, time tables. I'm still learning to cook and I haven't got it down to where I just "know" something is ready. Although I am getting a lot better at eyeballing my measurements.

Since I do have quite a bit of time on my hands so I decided to give it another try. I say another, because I have had some bean bummers like you wouldn't believe. I think one time the beans were just too old and dry and another time I didn't have the flame high enough. Let's also factor in the hour or so it used to take me to sort them out!

This time I did a much better job, though not as perfecto as I would like. It takes practice, and most importantly patience. I sorted my beans a lot quicker than last time, yay! I did such a good job that I sorted through another two lbs. just in case I messed up and had to start over. I know that's not the best attitude to have, but given my past, it seemed like a good idea. I think I should have had the flame a bit higher, so I noted that for next time. They ended up taking about an hour longer than I would have liked but at least I didn't have to throw them out. I put a bunch of whole garlic gloves and some kombu since I heard both help to eliminate the musical element that most people associate with beans.

Today I refried them and added some salsa for un desayuno muy delicioso! I usually sauté some soyrizo to the pan before adding the beans, but that wasn't in this week's budget. Maybe next time!

I didn't make my own salsa, but I still think my grandma would be proud. Next up is Mexican Rice and maybe some torts if I get up early enough mañana.