Booze: it's what's for dessert.

[rikibeth]

Specifically, an Amaretto Alexander, which is like a Brandy Alexander but with amaretto instead of the creme de cacao, because it sounded like a good idea. I am sure it'd be even better if I didn't have lousy brandy (the sort kept for head colds, rather than for flavor).

We could have had ice cream for dessert, because I scored a key fob on Freecycle that's good for 10% off all Ben & Jerry's through April 30 of next year, but that would have involved going to the Center to the scoop shop, and we were too lazy to do it, although we've calculated that the walk to and from the scoop shop cancels out most of the calories in a small cup.

I made what I thought was a perfectly good dinner tonight: kidney beans flavored with minced onion, cornbread from scratch, sauteed green beans from the farmer's market, and collard greens just for me because nobody else likes collards. Both the kiddo and eternaleponine fussed at me, saying I'd cooked only side dishes and no main dish. What? The kidney beans are the protein, the cornbread is the starch, and the green beans are the green vegetable! What's wrong with that? Besides, I made stir-fry LAST time I got farmer's market green beans, and we had Tasty Bite Indian pouches last night, so I wanted to do something that wasn't based around rice. But the kid didn't like the kidney beans because some of them burst while heating, and eternaleponine turned up her nose at me, and generally it was not well-received. Everyone liked the cornbread, though. (Just the recipe on the back of the Quaker Cornmeal box, nothing fancy. Perfectly serviceable.)

Anyone got any suggestions for doctoring plain canned kidney or red beans to improve their reception by fussy eaters? Vegetarians, so the usual foolproof "add bacon" is right out. Spice wimps, so chipotles en adobo and assorted hot sauces are ALSO not the tack to take. (I added generous Tabasco to my collards. It made me happy.) Cooked green peppers are also regarded as poison.

Anyway, since I made dinner, did all the dishes, and did NOT walk to Ben & Jerry's, I think I earned my drink.

I can still lift the slicer by myself at work. It wasn't just a fluke.

Tomorrow? Box Tetris again.

Comments

[alchemine.livejournal.com]

I love kidney beans just the way they are, so I'll be happy to come over and eat at your house anytime. :)

How about adding liquid smoke? It's vegetarian-safe but has that barbecue-y flavor. Or you could do one of the soy bacons -- not Morningstar Farms, because it's too brittle, but I've bought brands before that have a more chewy texture.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

If we're ever in the same city, I'll be happy to cook for you!

Morningstar Farms fake bacon really IS brittle, isn't it? I tried to do bacon baskets with it and it was total and utter fail. Do you remember which brands you like better?

[alchemine.livejournal.com]

The tempeh brands are the best. LightLife used to make one, but I'm not sure they still do -- I'll look next time I'm at the store!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I would have to be very brave to try a tempeh bacon. I tried a tempeh bourguignon recipe from Vegetarian Times a coupe of years ago, with LightLife tempeh, and OMG it was GROSS. Normally, when eternaleponine (who is legitimately a supertaster) finds something gross, I still think it's OK, because I have more tolerance for spicy and for bitterness, but the tempeh cubes taking the notional place of meat in the stew just tasted awful. This is why I now make stew with seitan.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

FWIW, what you made sounds fine to me, although admittedly I'm neither a vegetarian nor a spice whimp so I'd probably use both bacon and hot sauce or chipotles. ;-)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

eternaleponine would like it known that she's not a spice wimp, she has SUPERPOWERS. (Supertaster. It's a sad existence.)

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. She's a supertaster, then.

I'm more used to people like my mother, who, the first time she ate at my father's house, thought somebody had made some dreadful kitchen mistake and accidentally dropped a jar of red pepper into the food. Or so I'm told.

(She's much less sensitive today, thank goodness. :-)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

You should see what happens when eternaleponine has a sip of coffee or a nibble of 80% dark chocolate. Full-body shudders.

[7kim-moon.livejournal.com]

I know that vegans often use Lapsang Souchong tea (yes the same stuff I was mentioning last night) as a flavouring substitute for bacon.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I know how THAT'd go over: "tastes like campfire," not said appreciatively. Loathe the stuff myself. But it makes sense!

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I'm not a vegetarian but I use kidney beans in chili with beef. Maybe a chili (mild) with TVP? I don't know if Tofu would work in chili (I despise tofu).

I cook plain sushi rice with black beans, (making the rice purple)Sometimes I add other vegetables. I just throw everything in the rice steamer and let it do the work. When it's done, I stirr it up, spoon it onto a plate, throw some grated Monterey Jack cheese and homemade salsa on top.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

They won't eat chili. I said I had picky eaters!

The black beans/rice/salsa combo with cheese is something we do, although often it's used as burrito filling.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I used to hate chili, I called it bean soup. Then I started making it myself, I like my own chili, but not other peoples. I like a nice thick hearty chili, not a thin soupy one.

Well, if they don't like what you cook, then they can think of something to do with kidney beans. :)

What about a hearty bean soup/stew with a variety of different beans? Make a huge pot and freeze it.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Fine in the winter, not so great in the summer.

Recipe

[kebbykate.livejournal.com]

I've been making a yummy black bean salad lately:

1 can black beans--rinsed and drained
1 container salsa fresca
chopped onion (I usually use half a Vidalia)
Chopped cilantro, to taste
Chopped Cucumber (or peppers or something similar, but I hate peppers)
Anything else that works for you--fresh tomatoes if you've got them, are really good.
Some lemon juice.

You can look for salsa fresca at any level of spiciness. I get the medium at Hall's.

My friend who makes it tends to add different beans if she's stretching it for a large group of people. (So you could use your kidney beans there.)

No, my kids don't eat it because a) E doesn't like crunchy and b) M eats almost nothing anyway.

Re: Recipe

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I would totally have to leave out the cilantro, they're soap-tasters.

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

I hate to say it, but my answer to fussy eaters has always been 'You're not hungry enough then.' I have no tolerance for folks who don't do the cooking getting shirty about what someone else cooks for them.

That said, I don't have to live through the sulking, since I can just send fussy eaters home if they get shirty with me.

So what about adding shallots and butter to the kidney beans? Or possibly something like smoke flavoring, or even barbecue sauce?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

If I add barbecue sauce, *I* won't eat them. I'm a Carolina vinegar sauce girl. Bottled smoke-and-molasses? Pleh pleh pleh.

I definitely invoked the This Is What's For Dinner last night. I try to cater to eternaleponine because there are sensory issues involved, and of course I TRY to please my kid -- I asked her this morning what she'd prefer to beans to be served with cornbread and green beans. She said Quorn naked cutlets. I didn't point out that a can of kidney beans is 89 cents and a package of cutlets is around $5.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

Bacon salt is apparently vegan, so you could try that.

When I'm feeling lazy and cooking just for myself, I usually end up adding a little bit of wine to canned beans, and calling it "soup". But, for dryer beans, you could drain and rinse and add a little bit of red wine and let it mostly cook off. It adds something to the beans without making them all weird.

But myself, I'm not a fussy eater, particularly, so it may not work.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

This would require me keeping red wine around, which generally I don't. Worth a try, though.

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

My mother-in-law makes a tasty dish with collards and black-eyed peas. Granted, it has bacon, but you could probably do something similar with other beans and another flavoring.

Also, I have to agree that maybe putting the fussy eaters in charge of, say, one dinner a week might help them realize how difficult it is, and maybe they'd be a bit more accommodating.

[earthling177.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm carnivore, so not much help I guess.

Still, burst kidney beans taste just as yummy as non-burst ones, no? But I will add that beans in Brazil are typically flavored with onions and garlic, so some garlic might help. And they are also served over rice, not that it matters if you didn't want to make rice that night.

Anyway, another way they get served is as bean salad, like someone mentioned earlier, and bean soup, which my mom used to make by putting the cooked beans (cooking liquid and all) in a blender until they were silky smooth, then pouring it over cooked pasta, presto, yummy bean soup!