Midnight Snack

Rice and beans, yum yum yum.

Eating in bed is the epitome of luxury.

When you haven't been grocery shopping in forever and it's 3:00 a.m. and you're pretty sure you're starving to death, you scour your cabinets and you get creative. This is something I do frequently because, as I'm sure you know by now, I never grocery shop... which is weird for a person who loves to cook as much as I do.

I'm actually pretty sure that the ingredients I used to make the rice and beans were the last edible things in the apartment that could conceivably be combine to make anything one might consider "food", because we have not once cooked at home since I made them.

The ingredients were pretty much just a can of black beans, a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of chicken broth, a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, garlic, and spices. You know your food situation just got real when 66% of your meal consists of canned food.

Aaaaaanyway. Prep was very simple.

For the rice: In a small saucepan, I sauteed the garlic in butter for a minute of two and then added the uncooked rice to brown for about 5 minutes. After that I added the chicken broth (1.5-2 times as much broth as the bag of rice suggested water), tomatoes, and assorted spices and just let it cook until the rice was done.

For the beans: I waited until the rice was done, transferred it to a bowl, and then washed the sauce pan to use again because, as usual, I didn't have any clean dishes. I washed the beans and popped them in the pot with the remaining broth, chipotle chiles, and more spices. Then I just let 'em bubble, stirring occasionally, until the concoction wasn't watery anymore.

Then we ate it in bed and watched the finale of Six Feet Under and wept (because the finale of Six Feet Under is sad, OK?).

So what's your go-to, last resort food? Or your favorite midnight meal? Personally, I'm partial to grilled cheese, but I didn't have bread... or cheese... or a clean pan.