Garbanzo

From a cullinary perspective, I am on a huge bean kick.  I think my family would agree that this has been a very successful and creative exploration that has added a helluva lot of goodness to our diet.  The two most abundant beans I have been using the last 5-6 months have been:

1.  Garbanzo Beans
2.  Black Beans

In terms of Garbanzo beans, I have been making many different Indian inspired curry dishes. I have made a variation on traditional beef stew (without any beef or beef stock due to some vegetarians who were part of the dinner group) using Garbanzo beans.  I have been making a wide array of different types of hummus.  I have made Chili featuring Garbanzo beans.

In terms of Black beans, I have had a similar array of foods, usually more with a slightly Mexican or Southwest flair.  Another avenue I have taken black beans in is to make facsimiles of some of my favorite Ethiopian dishes, and I have been getting pretty decent results in mimicking those flavors.  However, I have also made from dried black beans one of the best bean dishes I have ever had the opportunity to taste.  It is a "fusion" dish combining Caribbean and more traditionally tropical spices in what is akin to a magic food with shockingly good flavor!  

Those are the two beans I have been using the most lately.  But, hell, no bean I can lay my hands on lately goes unexplored.  Perhaps in another post I will try to talk about some of the things I have been trying to make with pinto beans, or lima beans, or Cannelini beans. 

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