Food Adventure #4: Black Beans

I will start this off by admitting that I consider this a bit of a cheat as far as the February monthly challenge goes. 

Are black beans a non-animal based protein?

Yes.  

Have I eaten them much prior to the monthly challenge?

No.

But I had not planned on using it as one of the four foods.  I had planned on making Quinoa, but man is that stuff hard to find at the normal grocery stores!  I haven't been able to make it to Whole Foods, so my inadvertent use of black beans will suffice to complete the monthly challenge.

You can also tell that I had not planned to make use of black beans by the lack of photos. Sorry!!  Bad blogger!

Anyways, a few years ago, I attempted to start making use of black beans in my Mexican dishes - burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, tacos, etc.  However, I went for the dried beans thinking that they would be healthier than the cans and found out that they are much more difficult to cook than I thought.  Either you have to let them soak overnight or they need to cook for 2-3 hours.  I tried both and neither seemed to work in my hands.  Therefore, this time around I went straight for the can!

I've used black beans now as a quick burrito meal.  Toss them on a tortilla, add some cheese and frozen corn, microwave, add lettuce and tomato, and you're good to go!  A very quick bite to eat.  And quite tasty I might add. 

I've been through maybe ten cans this month and every time I go down the international aisle I keep thinking "I should really get a different kind of bean," but having no idea what the flavor difference is, I've stuck with black beans for now.  I do want to attempt my own hummus one day.  And I've had a lot of people say that bean salads are a great option.  We'll see how far I can branch myself out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions
1.  Do you eat black beans or other types of beans?  If so, what's your favorite way to eat them?, and do you use canned or dried beans?

2. Any suggestions on next month's challenge?  I haven't decided on one yet.


Dream.  Believe.  Achieve.