Fall flavours

It's that time of year again: time to put away the beach blankets and pull out the dried goods, peel up some winter veggies and snuggle in to some warm comfort food, stewed slowly on the stove.

I've been experimenting all summer long with coconut and papaya mostly and it's carried into the fall. The wheat-free endeavor also continues. Recently there's been endless stew with cornflower/lime/chipotle dumplings and black beans with mango, banana, lemon grass, ginger and coconut milk. Right now there's a giant pot of sliced up cucumbers getting ready to become mustard pickles before the apples and pears move in from the farm to be canned. Ah, it's almost hard to miss the beach yet with a kitchen in a state like this.

Life is good.

So who's ready for some beans?
I have to admit; while for many years I understood the financial benefits of dried beans I mostly used them to take up space in my pantry. Not this year.
But they still seem kind of boring, right?



Vegetarian 'pork' and beans
Tex-Mex black beans and corn
Thai beans with lemon grass and ginger
and Yesterday's stew on cucumber and jicama root
all finished off with a peanut sauce you could eat with cheese or ice cream (my definition of a pretty broad spectrum)


Who's hungry now?