I threw together dinner last night, and it turned out to be one of those throw-togethers that tasted like I’d been planning and cooking all day.
In reality, I didn’t even start thinking about food until about 5:30, so it was “what can I throw together quickly?” I had a hankerin’ for Mexican, and I bought some fresh cilantro the day before, and some pepper jack cheese. OK, there’s a beginning. I had some leftover spicy shredded beef in the freezer, pull that out. Let’s see… no tortillas, but I had Masa, and make a few corn tortillas from scratch to feed two people takes all of ten minutes, so I did that.
Sides? How about beans? Open a can of black beans, dump in pan. Oh look, there’s fresh ground white pepper left over from the other day, only about a teaspoon and a half, throw that in the beans, along with an equal amount of cumin. Hmm, about 1/2 cup of leftover basmati and leeks in the fridge, throw that in the beans as well.
Made beef soft tacos in the corn tortillas with the pepper jack, some fresh tomatoes, and cilantro. Beans/rice on the side, also with cheese, tomatoes, cilantro.
The real star of the dinner was the beans. The white pepper was AMAZING. This is a spice I always have around, but usually use it in the pepper grinder with a blend of red & black & white pepper. I’ve seldom used it alone, and let me tell you - a little bit of white pepper in a can of black beans is incredibly fragrant and delicious. It’s gonna be my new spice of choice, I can tell.