My dad’s cousin Leona – well, OK, she was my cousin as well, but, and here is a bit of family lore, she was his first cousin, so, then, my… ?
Second cousin? First cousin once removed?
These were discussions that filled a lot of family gatherings.
Anywho, Leona and her husband, Fred, had a friend who, at the drop of a hat, would jump up and say “BRAINSTORM!”
And then suggest a mildly wacky, last minute kind of thing to do.
FYI: Leona was not a mildly wacky, last minute kind of person.
As I was saying, anywho, I was putting a simple dinner together of chili dogs (Vienna Beef, of course, because… Chicago!) cooked in beer and garlic; and discovered that the canned chili I’d bought (vegetarian, because, we do try) had beans in it; and my husband does not really care for beans in his chili dog chili. What to do?
Then, I had a “BRAINSTORM!” moment.
Why not use the immersion blender and grind those beans to a paste! It helped to smooth and thicken the chili, and added all that lovely bean protein to the dish.
Who’da thunk it?
We both enjoyed our bean laden chili dogs with onion, chopped pickles, Zippy and Sweet Mustard, and…
also, who knew?
Pomegranate Guacamole goes really, really well spread on the toasted hot dog rolls.
Fergettabout your avocado on toast, you want you some of this guacamole.
BRAINSTORM, indeed.