Thursday, November 8, 2007

Easy Food



My last two days have been pretty crazy. Yesterday I got interviewed by Kare 11OnLive about neti pots at work and got to watch myself pouring water through my nose on TV. Then I went straight to yoga and afterwards got a call that my friend Newbie had FREE tickets to the Tori Amos concert that night- So of course I went straight there (yoga pants and all). I didn't get home until 11 that night.

My easy dinner of choice? Chips dipped in a can of refried beans with lime juice, garlic, Bragg's, and cumin mixed in. Sounds pathetic, I know. But surprisingly good! (and to my credit, I did take it out of the can before eating it).

Tonight I was planning on cooking something elaborate to make up for no blogging yesterday. Instead, I got stuck at City Hall until 7pm and am now eating another easy dinner.

Why was I at City Hall you ask?

...To attend a 3 1/2 hour City Council Hearing. Trader Joe's wants to tear down some houses in my neighborhood on the busiest street around and build a store. It's true that this corner is ugly and needs some help. But putting up a Trader Joe's where there is a locally owned grocery, a co-op where I work, a locally owned bakery, and a locally owned liquor store within a mile is just predatory. They needed zoning changes to do this project and despite numerous testimonies from the neighborhood, the motion passed. Well, we survived through Whole Foods opening and I suppose we'll survive this global corporate giant, too. They might be cheap as hell, but they can't get local produce like we can. And we don't wear obnoxious Hawaiian shirts either. So there.

So I was too hungry to wait for an elaborate dinner and instead decided to use some awesome locally made bread with a bean spread. Okay, really I just wanted to use the Tunisian olive mix I just got and these things were merely a vehicle for the olives.

I pureed Great Northern beans, olives, garlic, and pearl onions with some of the spicy olive marinade. Then I spread it on bread. For taking all of 2 minutes to prepare, this was really tasty. I definitely need to go eat some veggies still, but at least my hands aren't shaking anymore from going more than 3 hours without eating.

4 comments:

Sarah said...

Yum. I am a fan of spreads lately.

How did Newberg score free Tori Amos tickets? Was it good? Trader Joes wants to build at Dale and Selby? I am missing so much...

Anonymous said...

There is never anything wrong with bean dip for dinner, and your versions sound perfect.

Liz said...

Tori was great- Although I think she is becoming even more insane with age. Newberg got tickets from a friend and thought to invite me- I'm lucky! Trader Joe's is looking at Lexington and Randolph :(

Sarah said...

Sounds fantastic. Lexington and Randolph! That is my old street. So not cool. We will have to go to elite repeat when I come back. :(