I have nachos for dinner almost every night these days. One of the benefits of eating the same thing(s) all the time is the cost: I can make a big pot of black beans for less than $10 (often less than $5), and it will last me 2 or 3 weeks. Another wonderful thing: I never wonder what I’m going to have for dinner. But there are also drawbacks: I have to be sure that I’m getting complete nutrition from the two or three meals I eat every day, and people find my diet rather strange.

Anyway. Here’s my Black Bean recipe. It can be doubled or tripled fairly easily, and I’ve substituted pinto beans with no ill effects.

Prep time: 10 minutes (or 12 hours + 10 minutes); Cook time: 2-4 hours; Servings: 10.

Ingredients:

one pound of black beans
one medium red onion, … Read More »

My current lunch obsession. I make this in rather large batches (doubling the recipe below), separate into lunch-sized portions, freeze, and take to work. The soup thaws on my desk all morning, and takes 4-6 minutes (stirring and breaking up remaining ice chunks) after 3 minutes.

As with many of my other recipes, this is adapted from multiple sources.

Prep time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 1 hour, more or less; Yield: ~8 servings

Ingredients:

2T oil or butter
1 medium onion, 1/4-1/2 inch dice, your choice of color (I prefer red, but white and yellow have been tested and work fine)
1 clove garlic, finely diced or minced
1 green bell pepper, 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1 red bell pepper, 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1 can tomato paste
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies (or substitute your favorite—fire roasted tomatoes add an interesting bit of flavor—or add ~4 diced tomatoes with … Read More »