So I’ve recently started obsessing about beans. I’ve been quite the slacker in keeping them in my diet and I’ve been trying to eat them for dinner at least once per week (so what if that challenge started last week!).
Last week was black bean soup. By the way, I found the best way to make black beans! And OMG, the soup was incredible! When you make black beans, cook the beans with a ham hock. Yes, you heard correctly. A ham hock. Kind of gross, but this turned a black bean soup into a black bean soup. You know that one ingredient that you can’t ever place that makes restaurant food taste so much better than when you make it at home? (Well, normally that’s shallots and butter, but you get the picture) Ham hock. I promise you. You’ll love it. Add in an onion and together, you’ll have some incredible beans. But please do me and the planet a favor: pick up a frozen ham hock from a farm that has sustainably raised their pigs on an organic diet. Thank you. I’ve gotten them from Clark Summit Farms and Avedano’s meats.
For the first timer or the very wary due to gastronomic distress, here are some suggestions that I highly recommend that you follow for your comfort and those around you:
To change topics a bit - spent a fantastic weekend visiting two friends, S and N. I sort of needed an estrogen fix. What a great weekend spent talking, visiting, talking, sharing vegan/gluten free desserts and talking some more. I never realized how valuable it was to have such close friends where nothing is taboo or crazy (like beans). It’s liberating. We spend so much time in this country tight lipped and worried about what we say. Politics, sex, alternative medicines, religion/spirituality and emotions are off the table in the US. Why? What can’t we be more open, tolerant and enjoy each others’ views? Instead of getting into heated debates over who is president and how you feel about gun control, why can’t we discuss how we feel without judgement and be open? I challenge you to find friends and/or a partner who you can just let go with. Just let it all out! Even that crazy nagging thought in the back of your head like “do crystals really have power”? Laugh about it! Enjoy your thoughts; embrace them. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something or realize something about yourself that you never knew.
A new challenge for myself: yoga. S just finished an incredible yoga teacher training in Bali. It was awesome to hear her experiences. She was kind enough to wait for the weekend that I was in town to give a class for her friends. She did the class at her yoga studio, which happens to do only hot yoga. It was awesome! She did a Vinyassa style class in a 95 degree room. And I loved it. I loved how it detoxed me from the previous night of debachery. I loved how I could tell how tight my muscles and joints were and that I needed to continue with yoga. It inspired me to figure out a way to go at least once a week here in SF. I promise myself that with the upcoming long weekend, I’ll go to a class at Urban Flow Yoga. Should be interesting as this studio is donation based, has crowded classes and bumping music. All this sounds fine to me me, however, I can understand how it wouldn’t work for others. I’ll keep you posted!
Cannot wait for Turkey Day!!!
Get in the groove, don’t get stressed about cooking and just know - you’re sexy and you know it!!
Last week was black bean soup. By the way, I found the best way to make black beans! And OMG, the soup was incredible! When you make black beans, cook the beans with a ham hock. Yes, you heard correctly. A ham hock. Kind of gross, but this turned a black bean soup into a black bean soup. You know that one ingredient that you can’t ever place that makes restaurant food taste so much better than when you make it at home? (Well, normally that’s shallots and butter, but you get the picture) Ham hock. I promise you. You’ll love it. Add in an onion and together, you’ll have some incredible beans. But please do me and the planet a favor: pick up a frozen ham hock from a farm that has sustainably raised their pigs on an organic diet. Thank you. I’ve gotten them from Clark Summit Farms and Avedano’s meats.
For the first timer or the very wary due to gastronomic distress, here are some suggestions that I highly recommend that you follow for your comfort and those around you:
- Soak the beans over night (i.e 12-18 hours)
- Drain the water and rinse the beans very well
- Put the beans in a pot and add cold water to cook
- Do NOT add salt until the very end of cooking
- Add in a 1 inch piece of kombu seaweed (no idea why, but it alleviates gas)
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| Minestrone soup with Yellow Indian Woman heirloom beans. OMG. This was amazing (no ham hock needed!)!! |
To change topics a bit - spent a fantastic weekend visiting two friends, S and N. I sort of needed an estrogen fix. What a great weekend spent talking, visiting, talking, sharing vegan/gluten free desserts and talking some more. I never realized how valuable it was to have such close friends where nothing is taboo or crazy (like beans). It’s liberating. We spend so much time in this country tight lipped and worried about what we say. Politics, sex, alternative medicines, religion/spirituality and emotions are off the table in the US. Why? What can’t we be more open, tolerant and enjoy each others’ views? Instead of getting into heated debates over who is president and how you feel about gun control, why can’t we discuss how we feel without judgement and be open? I challenge you to find friends and/or a partner who you can just let go with. Just let it all out! Even that crazy nagging thought in the back of your head like “do crystals really have power”? Laugh about it! Enjoy your thoughts; embrace them. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something or realize something about yourself that you never knew.
A new challenge for myself: yoga. S just finished an incredible yoga teacher training in Bali. It was awesome to hear her experiences. She was kind enough to wait for the weekend that I was in town to give a class for her friends. She did the class at her yoga studio, which happens to do only hot yoga. It was awesome! She did a Vinyassa style class in a 95 degree room. And I loved it. I loved how it detoxed me from the previous night of debachery. I loved how I could tell how tight my muscles and joints were and that I needed to continue with yoga. It inspired me to figure out a way to go at least once a week here in SF. I promise myself that with the upcoming long weekend, I’ll go to a class at Urban Flow Yoga. Should be interesting as this studio is donation based, has crowded classes and bumping music. All this sounds fine to me me, however, I can understand how it wouldn’t work for others. I’ll keep you posted!
Cannot wait for Turkey Day!!!
Get in the groove, don’t get stressed about cooking and just know - you’re sexy and you know it!!
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