On Bowl of Food™. in Whey and Sonic Screwdrivers.

I’m amused at how there is a direct link between KidTimmy™ making taco meat for himself, and AdultTimmy™ accidentally making vegan chili.

I love tacos. As a kid, there would inevitably be pieces of meaty cheesy sour creamy goodness that would fall out of the shell. So, of course, I’d grab a spoon and eat that up. I decided using physical taco shells was pointless, so I would pile Tostidos™ on the bottom of a bowl, and toss all the meat’n’fixings on top. I would regularly make this for friends, as it was on the shortlist of things I could prepare.

What. I was a teenager.

It was around the time we were frequenting Chi-Chi’s a bit that I got inspired to stretch the meat by using rice. I’m talking that instant Old El Paso rice-in-a-bag stuff that’s ready in a minute. I don’t even think you can find it anymore. It was a definite win, as it gave me extra leftovers.

Canned refried beans never called to me, so the next step was to add beans. I recall finding a chili recipe online and using it to season everything. It was okay, but still not as good as just using Taco Seasoning packets. ALL THE SADZ.

I forget when I started adding lettuce to my bowls. Something about Taco Salads and sneaking in “vegetables”.

So, for a time, I was beyond lazy when it came to my Bowl Of Food™. I’m talking canned beans, and boxed “mexican rice”, and way overpaying for seasoning packets.

Somewhere in the past few months, it occurred to me that billions of people live off of beans and rice. So, surely I could find something stupidly simple to eat. It was kind of all at once, as I realized if I was going to season a pot of black beans, I didn’t want to waste a taco seasoning packet. So. I literally googled “homemade taco seasoning”. It isn’t perfect, but I’m tweaking it enough to hit the spot.

To be clear, I fucking love black beans. I’m also a cheap bastard. Soaking (dry) beans overnight for the next day’s dinner isn’t a big deal.

And sometimes when I’m about to make a batch of black beans and rice, I will think, “Eh, I feel like tossing in some garlic/shallot/pepper/diced tomatoes/corn.” Which. Is basically vegan chili.

Oops.

Oh sure, I’ll top this bad boy with lettuce, sour cream, and cheese. I’m just amused.