My favorite foods

Living on the border comes with a few perks. In the last post I talked about local foods. One of my favorite foods since childhood are fresh, warm corn tortillas from the local tortillerias. Delish! My favorite meal consists of homemade pinto beans (with cilantro), mexican rice, guacamole and corn tortillas. We are very fortunate to have lots of lime trees down here too. You need good mexican limes to make yummy guacamole! One way to spend a Saturday is to put a pot of beans on in the morning and spend the rest of the day cleaning house. By late afternoon you have a delicious, inexpensive pot of beans to eat with your Mexican dinner. (and a clean house. Very satisfying!)

Pinto Beans
Ingredients:
1 lb. dry pinto beans
lots of water
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic

1 can diced tomatos and green chilis

1 bunch cilantro
salt

Rinse dried beans in a colander. In a large pot, add about 5 ups of water, onion and garlic. Set on high. Add beans and allow to come to a boil. After it comes to a boil turn it down to medium and put the lid on it. Let it cook for a couple of hour checking it every so often to make sure there is enough water. Once the beans start to turn light brown and soften turn it down to low and let cook a little bit longer. Add salt a can of tomatoes with green chilis. I used original Rotel because we like the spiciness of it. You can just use mild. And about 30 min before serving add chopped cilantro.

I live on the border in south Texas and one of the major topics for the past few years has been the border fence.  So I found the following article from chron.com (the Houston Chronicle) very interesting..

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans today to announce an unusual marketing pitch to the U.S. government: Rent us space on the fence for billboards warning illegal border crossers there is more to fear than the Border Patrol.

The billboards, in English and Spanish, would offer the caution: "If the Border Patrol Doesn't Get You, the Chicken and Burgers Will — Go Vegan."

"We think that Mexicans and other immigrants should be warned if they cross into the U.S. they are putting their health at risk by leaving behind a healthier, staple diet of corn tortillas, beans, rice, fruits and vegetables," said Lindsay Rajt, assistant manager of PETA's vegan campaigns.

I find this very interesting.  Most Hispanics living in my community are overweight if not considered obese due to the fact that their staple diet is not corn tortillas, but flour tortillas made with lard.  The amount of vegetables they consume is minimal.  So for PETA to think they could scare illegal immigrants risking life and limb from crossing the border for fear of the average (noxious) American diets is laughable.  good free publicity...

Spent some time this morning with my new favorite cookbook Veganomicon!  I have spent countless hours thumbing through this book.  I can't wait to tryout the Tofu Florentine recipe. Anxiously awaiting my copy of Vegan Brunch from Amazon.