Rebecca Peterson

“By morning, Lorelai was strong enough to get up and eat breakfast without help. Gabril boiled a small pot of beans and sliced the last of the apples they’d stolen from the queen’s garrison. She ate the beans but ignored the apples.”

I sided with Lorelai and forwent the obvious choice of an apple dish to coincide with this Snow White re-telling by C.J. Redwine. I got so tired of hearing about the gross beans Lorelai and company were dining on every meal.

“Lorelai shoved a spoonful of beans into her mouth. They were hot and tasteless.”

I submit that with a bit of foraging, Gabriel really could have elevated those beans to a fresh, crunchy, delectable meal.

For my review of The Shadow Queen, click here.

 

Canned beans work fine and are, of course, super easy and quick. I prefer preparing my own dehydrated beans, though. They’re cheaper and infinitely better. Just make sure you plan ahead as they have to soak either all day or all night. I’ll usually soak them over night and throw them in the crockpot to cook on low until I get home from work.

A note about the veggies: be careful with your chopping. I aimed to chop the veggies into bite size pieces about the same size as the beans. It makes for a far more aesthetically pleasing dish. Has anyone else watched too many cooking shows and become very insecure over their even cutting skills? Just me?

May your travels include infinitely better beans than what Lorelai ate.

Tomatillo-Cilantro Bean Salad

Ingredients:

The Salad:

2 cups chickpeas

2 cups black beans

1/2 jicama, peeled and chopped

1 cup grilled corn (or frozen, defrosted)

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped

1/4 zucchini, chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

The Dressing:

2 tomatillos

Juice of 1/2 of one lime

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons of honey

1/2 packed cup of fresh cilantro

1. Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Blend all of the dressing items together in a food processor, until smooth.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Season with salt and pepper according to preference.

See? So easy. They totally could have whipped this up while on the road!