garlicky green beans, almonds, hard-boiled eggs

this is a quick post for a very quick and easy dish. seared green beans with blackened-y bits, lots of garlic, crunchy almonds, and just-right hard-boiled eggs come together in no time flat to make a hearty side dish, potluck favorite, or a light dinner for these summer dog days.

of course i shouldn't complain, living in relatively cool portland, but even 90 degrees feels hot when there's no a/c and fuzzy animals insist on wrapping themselves around you at all times. we've been keeping cool by eating lots of salad dinners and refrigerator scroungings and thinking cooling thoughts of arctic breezes. 

i don't even want to think about how i'm going to deal with being back in texas (in AUGUST, no less). lots of complaining and praising of central air conditioning, i guess.

anyway, this is simplicity itself. heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan on pretty high heat (like 8 out of 10 high). the heat is important because you want to get the beans nicely singed - it makes them way more flavorful. once the oil's shimmery, add about a pound of trimmed green beans.

let them sit for a minute or two, then you can stir every minute or so. don't get too crazy with the stirring - you want them to develop those nice black spots. they'll take 5 -6 minutes total. while that's happening, you can start the eggs. i don't know where i heard this, but the best way i've found to cook hard-boiled eggs is to cover them with about an inch of water, put them on high, let it boil for 1 minute, then take them off the heat and let them sit for 10 minutes before cooling them off in an ice bath. it's always worked really well for me and avoids that chalkiness and grey yolk layer that makes people hate them.

when the beans are just about tender (grab one out and nibble it, if you like), add a few big pinches of salt and 3-6 minced cloves of garlic. we are huge garlic people, so i err on the side of lots. you can go ahead and take the pan off the heat and just stir the garlic and beans around a bit so that the garlic loses its rawness. then after a minute or so, put them in a bowl with the juice of half a lemon and a handful of chopped italian parsley. or regular parsley. i'm not sure there's much of a difference.

this is best at room temperature, so once you're ready to eat, add perhaps 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds, more salt if it needs it, and some chopped up eggs. you can make it look nicer if you make each plate up individually, but i also like adding the eggs to the bowl because the yolks add kind of a creaminess to the whole thing.

regardless, it takes about 15 minutes total and it's actually really filling and tasty. you could also add like grilled chicken to it if you wanted, but personally i think it's kind of creepy to eat chicken and eggs together.

but maybe that's just me.

*ingredients*

1 pound green beans (asparagus would also be good!)

3-6 cloves garlic

handful parsley

1/2 cup or so toasted almonds

3? eggs (i don't know - maybe like an egg per person?)

tomatoes would not be half bad, either

listening to: now that chicken and egg together thing made me think of paul simon's mother and child reunion. so that. 

two quick/easy/healthy lunches

whether you bring your lunch to work or eat lunch at home or school, making it is one of those hassle-y things that you either sigh and do or sigh and don't do and then you end up buying a sub-par sandwich from the little shop on the ground floor of your office building.

wait, i guess that's only related to the bringing-your-lunch-to-work thing. and it's really only related to my work, because probably not everyone is lucky enough to work in office buildings containing shops with mediocre sandwiches on the ground floor.

anyway, i've never been that into making lunches. but i try to do it, because on tuesdays and thursdays i have to be Out and About for like 13 hours so if i don't make one i get into the whole sandwich shop malarkey and am mad at myself later.

two lunches that have been treating me right lately are a beans/kale/tomato melange and a vaguely asian chicken and broccoli thing. both are super quick and quite tasty and they will power you through any number of meetings, memos, or research rabbit-holes you find yourself falling into.

kale is probably my favorite green. it's milder than other greens like mustard or chard and it has more texture and heft than boring old spinach (which also has the non-benefit of making my teeth feel weird - thanks oxalate, you jerk!).

anyway, for this you just need one bunch of kale (washed, stems removed, and chopped into vaguely bite-sized pieces - 1"-2" or so), some garlic and/or shallots or onion, a can of white beans, and a can of diced tomatoes. heat a teaspoon or so of oil in a large pan (medium heat), then add the garlic/shallot/onion. let these cook for a minute or so, then add the kale. stir it around a bit and let it go for another two minutes-ish, then add the tomatoes (with their juice) and the beans (drained and preferably rinsed, because that bean-juice in cans is so nastily viscous). then you are basically done. let it cook, stirring occasionally, for perhaps another 10 - 15 minutes or until the kale becomes texturally pleasing to you. that's it! maybe also add some salt. a little lemon juice or cider or balsamic vinegar is nice, too.

the great thing about this is that it's vegan and it has lots of protein and vitamins. you can also grate a little cheese on it if you're feeling frisky. we had some cotija cheese that went particularly well with it, but asiago or parmesan would also be nice. it's also good warm or at room temperature, so if you can't stand the thought of hanging in the breakroom with your homies, you can hunch over it in your cubicle while reading a magazine. your choice!

here are the ingredients of my lunch today. i roasted a chicken the other day, so we already had some cooked leftovers. if you don't have a roast chicken in your fridge, you could always get one of those rotisserie ones or use tofu or add the extra step of cooking up a chicken breast. but it's definitely quicker if you have chicken that's already cooked. obviously.

other than that you just need a stalk of broccoli, a couple of cloves of garlic, a shallot (or equivalent amount of onion, or just leave it out), and perhaps half a jalapeño or other pepper (this one was mild). you can also add whatever else you have around - scallions and/or cilantro would be nice, as would some peanuts or cashews. but lo! i had none of those.

this is actually kind of similar to the kale thing in that you cook the garlic and whatever (here, shallot and jalapeño) for a hot minute, then add the green stuff (broccoli!) and let it cook for a bit. once i put the broccoli in, i added a tablespoon or so of water and then covered the pan and let it steam-cook for about two or three minutes. basically from here on out it depends on how crunchy you want your broccoli to be. i think mine cooked for a total of 7 or 8 minutes. the timing also depends on how large your broccoli chunks are - the smaller they are, the faster they cook.

once it's just about done, add some soy sauce (to taste, but maybe 1-2 teaspoons) and a teaspoon or so of sesame oil. then add the chicken (if you're using tofu, you could add it soon after the broccoli or cook it separately so it gets sort of crunchy) just to let it get all melded with the other stuff. also, incidentally, i was eating this at home, so i wanted to get it heated through. yay for home-lunch!

when you're ready to eat, a dollop of chili-garlic sauce is a great addition, as is sriracha, if you haven't already used it all up in some terrible apocalypse drink.

if you're taking it to work, you'll probably want to keep it cold until you're ready to eat it because salmonella.

*ingredients for kale thing*

1-2 cloves garlic

1 shallot or 1/4 of an onion

1 small bunch kale

1 can white beans

1 can diced tomatoes

salt

balsamic or cider vinegar, optional

cheese, optional

*ingredients for chicken-broccoli thing*

2 cloves garlic

1 shallot or 1/4 of an onion

1/2 mild jalapeño or other chili or some red bell pepper

1 largish stalk broccoli

1/3 - 1/2 cup chopped, cooked chicken

soy sauce and sesame oil, to taste

chili-garlic sauce and/or sriracha, to taste

other good additions - sesame seeds, nuts, other vegetables

listening to: the clientele

foldy-eggs/cheese/beans breakfast taco

so yes, we're moving back to austin soon. i graduate in may and we'll be back home before june. it will be hard to leave Beautiful Portland, but i'm extremely excited about being back in austin. it's too bad one can't live in two places at once. on days like today i'm especially in love with portland - it's sunny and flowery and chilly and fresh (the air here is the very freshest ever).

but then i think about friends and family and breakfast tacos and i can't wait to get back to austin. the breakfast taco is probably austin's official dish. if it isn't, it should be. simple, cheap, filling and delicious, it fills the four corners of a square meal perfectly.

i used to make mine with scrambled eggs and refried beans and then put grated cheddar cheese on top. that's cool and all, but now that i have learned the (ridiculously-easy-why-didn't-i-think-of-this) secret to smooth meltylicious cheese inside the eggs, i definitely think it's the way to go.

it isn't really even a secret. it's more like making a little simple omelet and using that instead of regular eggs + the grated cheese that never really melts properly. the original idea is from deb, whose website smitten kitchen is all sorts of inspirational. she makes the eggs into a square, however, so that they are all ready for a tasty breakfast sandwich.

as a good once and future austinite, i of course had to try it with a breakfast taco. this is really more about the mechanics than about a recipe, per se. first, cut some slices of a good cheddar or maybe pepper jack cheese. you don't need very much - maybe two or three thin slices (you could also use grated cheese, but i hate grating cheese). then you want to whisk an egg or two with a little salt and pepper and splosh them in a hot-ish pan (medium heat) with an adequate amount of butter. tilt the pan all over so that the eggs make a nice thin layer. let it cook for a bit until the eggs begin to set up, then put the cheese on top.

then use a spatula (i use a flexible silicon one) to fold the eggs over the cheese and themselves. for a taco, you don't make the square that is shown in the sandwich recipe - just fold the sides in so that it makes a long narrow rectangle-ish thing. i then heat up some (canned. the SHAME.) refried beans in the same pan, although if you're worried about overcooking the eggs you can be heating the beans up separately or put the eggs on your plate while you heat the beans. heat up a nice flour tortilla and you're all set!

spread the beans onto the tortilla, then add the foldy-cheese-eggs and some good salsa and you're good to go for the day.

(incidentally, these days the dogs are all about piling up into a comfort heap and enjoying the sun. i so envy their utter lack of Things to Do)

i have to admit that the picture of the taco above, with its petite line of salsa, does not truly represent my insane salsa predilections. below is a more accurate display of the amount of salsa i actually use. yikes.

*ingredients*

2 eggs

salt & pepper

2-3 thin slices cheese

1 flour tortilla

1/4 - 1/3 cup refried beans (i accidentally used too much in this taco, which made it rather difficult to eat. don't be like me!)

salsa

listening to: a weirdo medley of cruiserweight and grimes.

smoky garlicky black beans

lo, it is january! people all over the world are becoming newly virtued, newly sure that This Is The Year When It Will All Change. like everyone else, i want to do better this year. i want to be nicer and more patient. i want to make more of my time and spend a little less energy being frustrated and bitter. but ultimately, these are things i need to take day by day and even in a kinder, gentler world there is still a place for semi-good-natured mockery.

oh, there isn't? well that sounds boring.

one thing that many people want to change resolutionarily is their eating habits. sure, i just ate a piece of chocolate, but in general i think we eat pretty healthily here in living awesomely land. plus, it was artisanal chocolate. AND free trade. so that's basically like you're doing your part for the good of the world by eating it, i'm pretty sure. i don't have to defend my chocolate-eating choices to you.

anyway, my innate defensiveness aside, these black beans i made sure were good. i know! you are all, snrrrszzzzzzboring. they are really tasty, though, and So Healthyface. also cheap. so they pretty much fit the bill if your resolutions involved things like eating better or being more thrifty. you also get the sort of quiet joy that comes of simmering something on the stove and making your house smell good on days in which the sun barely has time to rise before setting again at 4pm. it's also vegan, so the animals would thank you if animals were capable of feeling thankful. ours certainly aren't.

the first step of making beans may or may not be soaking them. i've read so many things and have tried all kinds of different ways - i'm not any sort of authority on it. frankly, i often used canned beans. but canned beans are nowhere near as good as the ones you make yourself. plus they are so 2011. for reals. this time i used a quick soak method that seemed to work well.

just cover the rinsed beans with a few inches of water, bring it to a boil, let it boil for a minute or two, then let the pot sit covered for at least an hour. then drain them out and rinse them off. you might need to pick a few losers out of the bunch as well. in the picture above, a helpful squirrel is pointing out a weird grey bean that no one wants. compost that puppy!

rinse the pot out and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and put it over medium heat. once the oil's hot, add a medium diced onion. i think mine totaled 2/3 of a cup or so. possibly 3/4. don't get too hung up on the amounts. let that cook for awhile, stirring pretty frequently. you want it to get translucent but not too brownedy - 5 minutes-ish should be good. once the onion is translucent, add a whole head of minced garlic. you can, i suppose, add less, but garlic is good for you. also, garlic and onions cooking together form one of the great smells known to mankind. you owe it to yourself. let those hang out for a minute or so and then add some spices.

i was planning to use some cumin, some chipotle powder, and some smoked paprika. since there isn't any bacon or ham in here, i like the smokiness that those last two add. sadly, i was out of smoked paprika, so i used the smoke seasoning blend above. it's really good, but i like to not brag too much about the awesome trader joe's things we get here, since not everyone has access to them. but this time, i had no choice. and if you DO have a trader joe's, this stuff is good.

but it also is mostly smoked paprika. so you can work without it quite easily. add about two + teaspoons powdered cumin, 1-2 (or more, but it's spicy!) teaspoons chipotle powder (or you could use those canned chipotles in adobo - maybe like 1, minced?, and 2 teaspoons or several furious grinds of smoked paprika or smoke seasoning blend, respectively.

let it all cook together for a few seconds, so the spices get toasty, then add the pre-soaked beans and enough water so that they are covered by about 2 inches or so. you can add some salt at this point too - maybe a couple-few teaspoons (aka 2 -3). put the heat on high and let it come to a boil, then turn it down to medium-low (my stove's dial was at like 2 1/2 out of 10). cook until the beans are tender. this will depend to a certain extent on how old the beans are, etc., but it'll probably be like an hour. stir every 15 minutes or so, but it isn't a big deal.

once the beans are tender, add a can of tomatoes. you don't have to do this, but tomatoes are good in black beans, so i think you ought to at least consider it. this has a whole thing about bean skins and acids and bases, so you can see why you might want to wait until now to add the tomatoes.

you also might need to add a little more salt at this point. though it hasn't been scientifically proven, one of the main reasons people balk at eating homemade beans is that if they are undersalted they are the grossest things in the world. true story.

once they are tender, you can eat them immediately, or you can cool them and ladle them into muffin tins to freeze for later or you can keep them going on super-low heat until you're ready for them. they don't mind. they'll just be there when you're ready for them.

they're good on their own, or in enchiladas, nachos or the like. you can also have a little dress-up party with them and make some rice and have some toppings ready for delicious rice-and-bean bowls. we had them with brown rice, avocado, salsa, diced cheeses (cheddar, pepper jack), chopped scallions, greek yogurt (maybe i'm a philistine, but it really tastes just like sour cream to me), and garlicky sautéed kale.

i know. kale. eye roll. whatever haters, i love it! take the leafy parts from the stemmy stems, chop them up, cook them with lots of garlic, a splash of apple cider vinegar and some pepper flakes, and i could eat that stuff all day. it. is. the. best. particularly in a Virtue Bowl (TM).

good luck with all of your resolutionizing! here's to 2012!

*ingredients*

1 bag dried black beans (it was whatever the normal size of bags of beans at the store run - i think that's a pound)

1 medium or small onion, diced

1 head of garlic, minced

1 can tomatoes (14 oz) - i used just regular diced ones, but you can get the ones with flavoring if you like. if they're salted, take it easy on the salt you add

2+ teaspoons powdered cumin

1-2 teaspoons chipotle powder, or 1 chipotle chile in adobo, minced - spicy!

2+ teaspoons dried smoked paprika (or that trader joe's stuff)

salt, to taste

water

listening to: a weird mix of the lower 48 (especially come awake) and some hip hop-ish songs off a spotify mix i made (lupe fiasco, the streets, aesop rock/mountain goats).