my intro

[Guest guest]

Hi! My name is Annie and I've been a vegetarian for many years. I'm 56 years

old, almost 57. And I feel like I'm 26! I have Parkinson's Disease, which is a

nuisance, but am on medication for it, which helps.

Our daughter, who just turned 30, is about to give birth to our first

grandchild, so we are waiting, waiting, waiting.....She and her DH live in the

same town as we do, so we will be intimately involved in bringing up baby, as we

will be doing childcare when she has to go back to work. Both my husband and I

are retired on disability - so I consider us lucky to be vegetarians when we can

eat so low on the food chain. Beans and rice are pretty cheap. Cornbread is

also pretty cheap. We don't get into fancy vegetarian dishes, although I'd like

to try something different once in a while. My DH isn't into pasta much,

although he loves my homemade pasta and will gobble that right up.

 

I just bought " The Kind Diet " by Alicia Silverstone, and WOW! what a GREAT

BOOK! I was surprised, very pleasantly surprised at how good the book is.

Great sounding recipes, though I haven't tried any of them yet. It is a book on

going vegan, and is supportive, and informative, very informative, and upbeat. a

YOU CAN DO IT kind of book. The recipes aren't weird sounding, and it only

took me to two health food stores to get the ingredients for one of the dishes.

But I can see that I am going to have to buy online for some of the ingredients.

I live in a very small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and health

food stores just aren't easily found, though we do boast two in our town. But

they don't carry everything. For instance, in one recipe it calls for umeboshi

paste and umeboshi vinegar. I found the umeboshi plums for a different recipe,

but never saw the paste nor the vinegar. I also needed shoyu, and was told this

certain brand of soy sauce was really shoyu, so I got it, but how do I know?

 

I am ready to go vegan, but my DH is not. I already do not use milk, or eggs,

but cheese definitely has a hold on me. I haven't tried any soy cheeses, but

plan to get some on my next shopping trip. If they are any good, then I think

I've got it! I do love beans on top of rice with cheese on top.

 

Here is a recipe I make all the time - it is quick, easy, and delicious:

Black Beans and Rice

2 cans of black beans

1 tablespoon of olive oil, or more if needed

ground cumin

one medium sized onion

one medium sized green, yellow or red pepper

diced garlic

salt

1 cup basmati rice

optional: vegetable stock

green onions

fresh tomatoes

cheddar cheese or soy cheese

 

Dice the onion and pepper, and put into skillet (I use a calphalon or teflon

skillet) with olive oil, and sauté until tender, add the garlic, and swirl into

the onion and pepper until soft. Add the 2 cans of black beans, along with their

liquid, and add as much cumin as you can stand - I usually add a heaping

tablespoon. Add a teaspoon of salt. Stir and let it come to a boil, then turn

down to a low simmer and let it come together - some of the liquid will

evaporate, and some will be taken up into the beans. You'll have to judge how

soupy you like your beans, or how dry you like them, and pull them off the stove

when they are how you like them.

MEANTIME (while the beans are cooking), Take the basmati rice and add 2 cups of

water (or vegetable stock) to it, bring it to a boil, turn the heat down to low

and cover it, timing it for 20 minutes. When done, take off heat and fluff with

a fork. (if you are using brown basmati rice, I think it has to cook for 45

minutes, so adjust the recipe to get the rice to come out at the same time as

the beans).

While rice and beans are cooking, get the condiments going - chop the green

onions and dice the tomatoes, and shred the cheese.

Serve it with some rice on the plate first, then the bean mixture, then the

green onions, tomatoes, and cheese. Absolutely delicious. And you can tweak

this recipe to suit yourself. If you'd rather have a different flavor than

cumin, say chili flavored, add chili spice to it. You can leave the salt out,

and pass the salt shaker around to people to add as much as they like. This

dish is a proven winner at my house. I get the beans going and on simmer, and

if I'm out of fresh garlic, or bottled chopped garlic, I add garlic salt. It is

infinitely changeable. Enjoy! I serve this with my best cornbread recipe,

which I will post next.

I look forward to meeting with you all, and getting some new recipes, and

support along the path towards becoming vegan.

Hugs,

Annie