Happy Sunday!

I'm sitting on my back patio in my new outdoor chair (it's only taken me three summers in this house to break down and buy something that allows me to sit comfortably out here) with a stack of magazines (Imbibe, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator...) and my pup patrolling the yard.  Ok, he's eating sticks.  The heat has finally broken and there is a gentle breeze and a blue sky.  Happy, happy Sunday!

I decided today was the day I was going to take back my kitchen.  I'm still spraying a moth or two a day with my eco-friendly spray but I just can't stay out of the kitchen any longer.  I ventured off to the Schenectady Greenmarket and then did some other grocery shopping.  All afternoon I've rotated between enjoying the back yard, cleaning and cooking.

Although I was loathe to turn on the stove in any fashion, I got over it to make a big pot of black beans.  This approach deviated a little from my normal black beans, but they came out good.  I'd grabbed a huge bunch of cilantro at the market and wanted to use it right away.  So, garlic, onion, 3 cans of beans, one can of diced tomatoes, a can of New Mexico green chiles from Trader Joe's, salt and some other powdered chiles and I was good to go.  Oh, and a healthy dose of lime juice.


I let the beans cook for a bit to let the flavors work their magic.  Then for a late lunch I toasted up a couple of tortillas, dumped some beans on top and finished with more cilantro and some queso blanco.  It was tasty, inexpensive and pretty good for me.  A nice Dos Equis, or better yet a margarita would have finished the late lunch off perfectly, but alas I fear my summer full of dining out and grabbing beers after work may be catching up with me and today's a good a day as any for a little detox/calorie-saving.

 I've got some other goodies in the works, but they'll have to wait for a future post.