Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit

Part of the fascination of this whole vegan thing for me has been trying new foods that I was previously close-minded to. One food that I would never have dared to eat as part of a meal was beans. Any kind of bean. Blech. However, beans are good for me and they make a great substitute for meat in many recipes. Therefore, I decided to "give beans a chance." I've discovered many beans that I enjoy! I haven't necessarily made it as far as eating them naked (not me, the beans). Because my issue with beans has always been more textural than taste, I can only really eat them if I have them with brown rice or something to cut the grittiness. I am finding, though, that I need that buffer food less and less.

So yesterday I was out, and I was hungry. And after much consideration, I decided to brave the one bean that I never dared try, the refried bean.

Remember now, no judgement! Some of you already know where I'm going with this, so just sit tight for a second. I have always known that refried beans were one of the worst items on the Mexican menu from a fat and calories standpoint. But there are quite a few foods that I've discovered recently, including most beans, that are high in fat and calories but are loaded with nutrients, so much so that the nutrients received trumps the fat and calorie intake. I just figured that refried beans were the same way. So I ordered a spinach burrito which came with a side of beans, and a bean taco.

I dove into the bean taco first. OMG. Um, yum...what have I been missing out on all these years? I was so excited to find another bean that I liked. PLUS, it's hard enough to find restaurants that have vegan options, so hallelujah!

As I continued to scoop my side of beans with my chips, loving every minute of it, I started to realize that other beans that I've experienced have not had quite the intensity of flavor that these did. And they looked awefully creamy for being just beans. Uh-oh. Was there milk in there? I ignored the sinking feeling that something was amiss for the next few bites. Maybe they just really knew how to use their spices. Finally, I relented and pulled out the magic iPhone to research the common ingredients of refried beans.

"...Vegetable oil or LARD..."

Lard?!?!?! Well, s***. I knew I was going straight to vegan hell. It could have been vegetable oil and my soul might be saved, but that's not the point. There's enough food out there that a person can be a vegan and still eat like crap. That is not my goal. I want to be healthy, and even vegetable oil is not healthy. I was so sad, until I saw a recipe that used olive oil instead of vegetable oil or (ugh) lard.

Even as a non-vegan I could not reconcile myself to lard. I knew a lady once who had literally hundreds of first place ribbons displayed in her house for her incredible pies. Along with a 5 gallon bucket of lard displayed under her kitchen sink. Her crusts were phenonmenal, but seeing that bucket of grease sitting there ruined it for me.

So (*sigh*) I suppose I can enjoy refried beans any time I want as long as I make them myself with the right ingredients. Golly, that seems to be the trend of most food these days...