Real food makes me happy. The term "Happy Meal," in particular, really ticks me off. Food is not happy, food is life. So, what is "real food" ??
For me, real food is high in complex carbohydrates and made from whole foods. This weekend I came up with a recipe I'm thrilled with: Red Beans and
Rice, yummo.
1 cup of dried red beans, this can range from aduki beans to kidney beans to small South American red beans (check your favorite Latino grocery store
for these). Soak in 3 cups of filtered water overnight in the refrigerator.
In the morning, prepare 1 batch of whole-grain brown rice, any variety will work. Set aside.
Drain off the excess water from the soaked beans...use the water to water your garden plants. Empty the beans into a cooking pot, add 2 cups of
filtered water and cover the pot with a lid...if you want extra flavor, replace some or all of the water with your own vegetable stock, but it must be
unsalted stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove the pot lid and reduce heat to a medium boil for 1 hour. When there is not a lot of water
left, add 2-3 cups of filtered water all at once; you will see a lot of foam...skim that off with a slotted spoon..the foam is from indigestible
sugars that will give anyone gas if the foam is not skimmed off. When the mixture is cooked (beans become soft) and the liquid is as saucy as you
like, add a large pinch of sea salt, a tablespoon of your favorite Latino green sauce (Herdoz is good) (or if you are really daring, a TBSP or so of
finely grated horseradish, common in American gardens before hot peppers came into vogue), a pinch of ground coriander, and a pinch of your favorite
curry powder. Mix, taste, adjust seasoning if needed, and serve either separately or mixed in with the rice, as you wish. In a soup bowl, I usually
serve out my rice portion, then ladle the saucy beans over the top of the rice. It is sooooo good.
Serves 2 starving people, or 4 people if other items are also being served for a complete meal. This is also a great potluck dish to bring to a
SuperBowl party, folks.
edit on 1/25/2011 by Uphill because: Added my recipe for the beans.
edit on 1/25/2011 by Uphill because: Added more recipe
details.