MEATLESS WEDNESDAY

We didn't have our Meatless Monday this week due to the fact that we had guests and that included a chicken BBQ. Since I'm committed to at least one meatless meal a week today is the day. Actually, we've been having more meatless meals than meals with meat. Today will be one of our favorite meals: beans/rice/ tortillas.

A week or so ago I made tortillas and messed up the recipe. I've used this recipe for years and this was the first time I goofed. I added double the amount of shortening and they turned out like pie dough instead of bread. They crumbled to pieces and you couldn't make burritos with them. Today I'll be more careful. I have cilantro and some nice salas verde on hand so instead of spanish rice I'll make green rice to go with our meal.

I like to listen to the program "The Splendid Table" on PBS radio on Saturday's at noon. The host mentioned this last week while talking about cooking beans, that you can ignore what you've heard about adding salt at the beginning of the cooking time. It does not affect the way the beans turn out. This is the first time I heard this advice, but I am going to try it today. I've always been told that it makes the beans tough...so I never add salt until the end. When I make potato salad I peel the potatoes and add salt to the water when they cook. It flavors the potatoes while cooking and makes the salad much better, so it only makes sense to me that the beans will have more flavor if they are cooked WITH the salt.

It's important to build flavors when you cook. Just adding the salt at the end doesn't have the same result so I'm looking forward to this mini experiment. I'll saute onions and garlic in olive oil first then add that to the beans as they cook for a little added flavor.

I was so excited last night to be able to make salads for dinner from our garden. The lettuce is coming on strong and we'll be overrun with it before long. We had spinach and lettuce and it was so delicate and nice to use! Arugala isn't far behind. Can't wait for the radishes to be ready, too!

Remember to eat at least one meatless meal every week!!!!