Monthly Archives: May 2012

Recipe: Mexican Bean Salad

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My sister recently moved and, on Friday, I visited her new domicile for a quiet housewarming party. This caused me to freak out slightly:

@alevtina: 'Dinner at my sister's house means I have to frantically text her to remind her not to unnecessarily include cheese/milk in her dishes.'

The fact that my veganism causes others to have to change their dinner plans is kinda sucky. So I immediately texted her back and said I’d be bringing vegan desserts for everyone to enjoy. In the end, not only did I bring sweets from the amazing Clementine Bakery in the Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn but I also brought a nutrient-packed salad that I threw together in about 30 minutes. I’ve been on a Mexican kick lately (I love Mexican food!) so I created this bean and avocado salad:

Ingredients

  • 15-oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
  • 15-oz can sweet corn kernels, drained
  • 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 1 bunch scallions, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño, deseeded & chopped
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
  • salt, to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp vinegar

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the drained & rinsed beans and corn.
  2. Add the chopped tomatoes, red onion, scallions, and jalapeño to the bowl.
  3. Now it’s time to add the chopped avocado.
  4. Season with salt and pepper, using as much or as little as you like. (I like a lot of black pepper!)
  5. Add the lime zest and juice.
  6. Add olive oil and vinegar.
  7. Toss everything to coat evenly.
  8. Add the finely chopped cilantro and mix well.
  9. Enjoy!

This makes one large bowl of salad, enough to accommodate 8 people as a side. (Perhaps six people can partake if serving the salad as a main dish.) It’s hearty enough to be used as filling for tacos (you’ll just need some warm tortillas) or served simply with a side of tortilla chips. Or on its own! It’s delicious and so good for you.

In fact, it’s so yummy that I recreated it for lunch on Saturday. Now I have enough salad to feed me for days!

It’s a veritable cornuco-opia!

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GHFC Feb2012_KChauvin__071When I stayed home earlier this week with a stomach ache, I had a knitting marathon* while watching the 12th season of King of the Hill. This season included one of my favorite episodes: Raise the Steaks, where Hank joins a food co-op to enjoy its delicious produce and fresh steaks. (My favorite part of the episode is when Hank says, “You’re not making any sense. Tomatoes don’t taste like anything!” and Peggy exclaims, “If this is what food tastes like, what have we been eating!?”) It was the final push I needed to go and join a local food co-op.

*If you’re curious, I’m working on the Bethany Wrap from the Summer 2012 issue of Interweave Knits.

Brooklyn is home to one of the most famous co-ops out there: Park Slope Food Coop. In fact, it’s one of the oldest and largest food co-ops in the United States, having been established in 1973 and being home to more than 16,000 members. However, it’s not as convenient to my home as I’d like and it keeps making the news for unfavorable things, like its militaristic work requirements and the ensuing emotional unrest. So I began looking for other options and that’s when I came across the Greene Hill Food Co-op.

I hadn’t heard of this co-op before and that surprised me: it’s less than a mile (a 20-minute walk or an 8-minute bike ride!) from my house, how could I have missed it? Turns out, it’s a little over a year old and only recently reached 1,000 members. They’re also only open two days a week at this point, which is a bummer but understandable considering they’re 100% member-owned and -operated. (The more contributing members, the more operating hours!) So I decided to make the commitment and filled out the online form to join! The next step was visiting the store to get my member card and shop! So I went yesterday with Alex, got my key fob, and shopped. It was glorious! Well, not “glorious” but “as advertised.” It’s a small space (they’re only using one of the three storefronts–totaling 2,700 square feet–they’re leasing) but it wasn’t crowded… and there is a limited selection of products but it’s all things I shop for on a regular basis. I could see it growing, expanding, and evolving, and I foresee many happy shopping experiences at this co-op!

All that’s left is for me to schedule my work shifts and start working. (The co-op uses an external website to manage the shifts and I haven’t received my login credentials yet.) That’s going to be interesting, especially in the fall when I begin classes at the Grad Center while working full-time. What have I signed myself up for!?

You could cut ties with all the lies

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Secret - CUNY Grad CenterBack in March, I applied to the CUNY Grad Center for the Fall 2012 semester. Earlier this week, I learned that I was accepted! I will be pursuing my second Master’s degree, this time in Liberal Studies. I’ve chosen to concentrate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies because I hope to combine my interests in librarianship with my passion for sexuality education and equal rights. While in library school, I learned that there is little research on the information needs of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) teenagers. Through my research, I found that there was no qualitative research on this topic that used sound investigative methodologies and I made a promise to myself that I would change that one day. My studies at the Grad Center will help me fulfill that promise by giving me the proper foundation and education as well as propelling me toward a tenure-track position in an academic library where I will have the time and resources* to devote myself to achieving this goal.

*I’m being optimistic–borderline naive–here. Faculty get some time off for research but it’s not nearly enough. Furthermore, the college will not pay for any expenses incurred as part of my research… so I will need to apply for grants and find funding elsewhere. But it’s still better than what a temporary or part-time position allows me! (Namely: nothing.)

UnisexSo it was with interest that I read a story reported today in Inside Higher Ed wherein a transgender college student was awarded the right to use the women’s bathroom after having been relegated to “gender-neutral” bathrooms after another student complained about having to share the women’s bathroom with her. (We’ve been through this before, folks: separate does not mean equal!) Toward the middle of the article, though, I paused when I read the line: “The ‘T’ of LGBT is largely forgotten or invisible on most campuses today.” I realized I’m guilty of this.

Whenever I think about LGBTQ college students, I’m actually just thinking of gay and lesbian students. Meanwhile, I know people who have had gender-reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy so it’s not like I’ve forgotten about them or think transgender people are invisible, nonexistent, or insignificant. I guess I just think that transgender people come to terms with their identities later in life so I do not think of them when I think of “college students.” Of course, this is an unfair assumption–and a silly one, given that I work in a university system that is so large and diverse*.

*I can link to many reports for race/ethnicity and age of the students… but, of course, there is no data on sexuality or sexual identity. However, given that there are over 540,000 students at CUNY and that, on average, 3.5% of American adults identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and 0.3% of American adults are transgender (numbers that I think are conservative), that means that about 18,935 CUNY students identify as being lesbian, gay, or bisexual and another 1,623 are transgender.

I hope a formal education in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies will help correct this kind of thinking and inspire me to learn more about the information needs about LGBTQ college students and help me better assist them–and everyone else–in college libraries.