Frankfurter, Beans and Tomatoes

Even I don’t cook fresh and from scratch all the time, especially for lunch. The other day I got to lunch late from the “office” and I was hungry. There were no appealing leftovers and no emergency cans of soup, gosh; I haven’t bought a can of soup in a long time.

So, I hit the can cupboard and found a can of black beans and a can of stewed tomatoes. That’ll be good with one of my newly discovered frankfurters from Marin Sun Farms. Those are good, rich, beefy flavor and natural casings that snap when you bite into them.

I browned the frank in a skillet, put it on a plate and stuck it in the toaster-oven to keep warm while warming the plate.

The beans went in the same skillet, along with drained and chopped tomatoes. I mixed that up and let it bubble gently for a few minutes to thicken.

Once plated, I sprinkled the mess with raw, chopped sweet spring onion for a nice crunch and sparkling flavor addition.

That made a yummy lunch, and there were about two cups (one POM jar) of bean tomato mixture left over.

Stretch,
The next day I got out:

• the bean tomato mixture,
• about half of a fresh Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato, left over from a previous meal,
• another frankfurter,
• about a cup of leftover linguini.

The frank was sliced and browned in a saucepan, the tomato chopped and added, then the bean-tomato mixture stirred in along with the linguini to heat. Once that was combined and bubbly, I needed a little more liquid, so I poured in about a half can (3 oz) of Spicy V8 juice. Yum again.

Stretch again,
After lunch, I still had a POM jarful left over, so I ate that for lunch the next day, pretty much unadulterated.

You know what? The food was good, and changed a little each day, so I didn’t get tired of it. Hmmm, what’s for lunch today???