One nice thing about having OmegaDad gone for a week is that I get to experiment with new and spicy foodstuffs. [Digression: OmegaDotter is "powdering her nose" before bathtime. I am requested to leave while the "powdering" goes on. I tell her to holler for me when it's time. She hollers just as I'm finishing the above paragraph. I go to the bathroom, where I see...OmegaDotter sitting on the toilet with her shorts on her head, like some medieval headgear, giggling madly. Now. I ask you. How can one help snorting with laughter? If OmegaDotter ever finds this website when she is a teen, I am sunk. Sunk. Totally beneath reproach. But, dayum, it was funny!] Back to foodstuffs. After looking at pictures of me and OmegaDotter cavorting at various beaches, parks, and fiestas, I have come to the conclusion that I am in dire need of some caloric restriction. In addition, I love, love, love beans. And chili. And stuff like that. OmegaDad does not love, love, love beans. And chili. And stuff like that. And he pays lipserve to the idea of lowering our calorie intake, but...um...well, let's just say that the man hasn't met a fattening carbohydrate he doesn't love. So having a yearning for a basic beans-corn-rice-chili meal, which I figure will be (a) vegetarian and (b) somewhat low on the calorie scale, I took this black bean chili recipe and adjusted it for what we had in the house. What I came up with: One big dollop of olive oil 5 nice fat scallions, chunked up A spoonful of pre-minced garlic (I know purists hate the stuff, but it is ever so much better than [ew yuck] garlic powder) 2 tsp. chili powder 1 sorta tsp. ground coriander A bunch of shakes of a container of red pepper flakes (No cayenne in the house. How did this happen? I am appalled.) 1 sorta tsp. paprika A sparse handful of dried oregano, crunched in the hand first 1 sorta tsp. cumin 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 2 15-oz. cans of diced tomatoes (no flavorings, please!) 1/4 cup molasses 1 can of black beans A bunch of frozen corn Some salt Cooked rice Heat the oil, dump in the scallion chunks, sauté. Add the garlic and spices and stir a bunch. Be sure to keep your head averted when the garlic and onions start popping! (I didn't. I got a flying whack of hot spicy oil smack dab in my eyeball. I thought I was blinded for life. I wasn't. But it wasn't fun.) Add the tomatoes, molasses, beans, and bell pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer a long time. Start the rice. Halfway through the rice cooking, toss the corn into the chili mix. Serve the chili mix over the rice. Dayum. That was good! The kiddo, not an aficianado of strange looking concoctions, got plain rice and nuked frozen chicken nuggets. I figure after she sees me eating the strange concoction a bunch of times, she'll take me up on my continued offers of a taste. I think my next foray will be pseudo-samosas with mint sauce. Real samosas, which are deep-fried, are not low in calories...but I found some recipes that are baked instead, so...Ahhhh. Samosas. Yum.