Dancing Beans

I keep referencing Ghostbusters II around here to describe how I feel about this toxic election. Remember the 1989 classic—the river of pink slime underneath New York City and how it kept growing and growing, literally feeding off people’s negative vibes?

Even when I take a conscious and deliberate break from political media outlets and/or social media, the drama of this election still finds me and usually upsets me. At night, when Teddy takes his bath, we often FaceTime my mom, who says she won’t vote for Hillary. [UPDATE: We got a response from my mom in the comments section below. She is "unknown." She wants to make it clear she's not voting for Trump either. With 18 days left 'til the election...maybe we can get another update from her that she's going whole-hog Democrat?! One can dream!] It takes everything in my whole body not to steer the conversation away from Teddy’s bath-time toy adventures and toward my outrage at Trump’s latest offensive remark and/or the people who refuse to denounce them. (But sometimes, I have to anyway.)

Enter: this video by Celia Rowlson-Hall and Mia Lidofsky. Never in my life had I wanted so badly to put on a pantsuit and dance, dance, dance. It reminded me how important it can be to move our bodies. It reminded me that sometimes we have to seek out joy. But mostly, it got me dancing.

Slow-Simmered Pinto Beans

Serves 8

1 lb. dried pinto beans, rinsed

2 tablespoons lard/bacon fat/ or olive oil

10 sprigs cilantro, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 jalapeno, slit lengthwise

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium tomato or 4 to 5 cherry tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Kosher salt, to taste

1-2 limes

avocado, sour cream, corn tortillas or tortilla chips to serve

Combine beans, lard, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, onion, tomato, cumin, cinnamon and 7 cups water in a large dutch oven. Boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about 3 hours. Pour over the juice of one lime and at least two teaspoons of salt. Taste. It very well may need another teaspoon or two of salt.

Serve in bowls with a large dollop of sour cream, some avocado slices, lime wedges, and either tortilla chips or warm corn tortillas.