Issue 168 - Purchase College

Rice & Beans
Hey everyone! For this very first edition of
my weekly/bimonthly column here at the Indy,
I suppose a bit of an introduction is due. My
name’s Jonathan and I am a creative writing
and sociology double major here at Purchase-
I run, bike, hike, write, read, and I love to eat.
Truly. You would be hard pressed to find another
person who relishes good food as much as I
do- fruits, veggies, yogurt, beans, kale, collards,
kombucha, whatever- I love food. Just as a grazing
beast of burden wanders aimlessly through
the fields chewing its cud, so will you find me
meandering around campus with a bag of fruit
and brick of cheese in hand, wallowing in the
splendorous rapture of my food-induced bliss.
Purchase’s very own mediocre-at-best
guide to healthy affordable eating. From home
cooking to guerilla gardening, easy fermentation
recipes to an everyman’s handbook on
affordable sustainable living, it’s just like we
said- cheap, healthy, and tasty as all hell (or at
least I thought it was)!
And just as a true-believing Evangelical
would share the good news that Christ can
save you from eternal damnation, so I share an
equal zeal in sharing my incoherent ramblings
with the wholly disinterested ear of the student
body. I should let you know now that I will not
include anything in this column that I’ve not
tried to make myself, nor anything that didn’t
work for me when I gave it a shot. I plan on not
making this just another weekly cooking piece
(though there will certainly be recipes aplenty),
but wish to start looking at food in a larger
context- what we eat, why we eat it, where it
comes from, how we grow it, eat it, cook it, store
it, even think about it. I’d like to take a look at
commercial agriculture and carcinogenic pesticides,
the incorporation of organic food and
“green culture” into the mainstream, and most
importantly emphasize the power of the individual
choices that can impact the whole of society.
With this column, I’d like to both turn a
critical lens on food in our culture as well as to
help us realize how we in our private lives can
consciously decide to eat in a healthy, frugal,
and wholesome manner, where our decisions
as consumers will help promote good nutrition,
local economies, and help us learn to make
smart, ethical economic choices.
This column is about providing you with
recipes for healthy vegetarian fare that will cost
you under $15 at the very most and can serve
up to four or five people. I’d like to demonstrate
that by learning to prioritize your food choices,
it is possible to eat local and organic without
having to be cost restrictive, that eating healthy
doesn’t just mean you have to spend seven dollars
on a salad at the Hub, or that you need to
buy some sort of expensive microwavable
gourmet plate at Stop and Shop. By learning to
focus on our health and gaining insight as educated,
conscientious consumers, it’s is possible
to make smart choices that will have your food
tasting better, your body feeling healthier, and
your wallet staying fuller. With all this in mind, I
hope we’ll have a great semester together.
Now let’s get started!
Rice and beans is a near-universal staple
throughout many of the world’s cultures, from
the ancient Mesopotamians to the modern rural
South. I remember I had once cooked up a
big pot of beans and rice with some collards
for my grandfather over the summer. When I
put out the food in front of him (mind you, this is
an eighty-seven year old five-foot-nothing bald
Greek man with a thick accent and a reputation
for telling stories about living in Athens during
the Nazi occupation), he took a few bites, gave
an approving nod, and said to me:
“This is what we ate in Greece during the
Starvation.” Considering this was one of the
few times my grandfather hadn’t openly told
me he hated my cooking, I cherish this memory
as a tender and compassionate (if slightly
awkward) moment of dietetic praise from him.
This is a basic rice and beans recipe, meaning
that a lot of alterations could be potentially
made if you so wish it. Remember, the number
one rule with doing your own cooking is to
experiment—go nuts! Throw in your favorite
veggies, meats, spices, or whatever else you’re
into. Cooking is a time to explore and try new
things, discover new tastes and textures and
occasionally screw up (sometimes badly).
Above all else, don’t be afraid of what happens
if you’re trying something different. Sometimes
no matter what you do, things just don’t work
out. Still, it’s that variety which makes life more
interesting. With this in mind, go wild!
Rice and Beans-
The rice takes 25 minutes to set up and cook,
and the beans takes around 10 minutes.
(Serves 4-6, depending on how hungry you all
are)
You’ll Need:
Equipment:
-frying pan
-medium sized pot
-knife and cutting board
Food
-4 cans black beans (or otherwise your favorite
type of bean)
-2 ½ cups rice
-1 small onion
-4 cloves garlic
-extra virgin olive oil (or whatever other kind
of oil you have handy-- butter works too!)
-Salt, pepper, and whatever other spices you
like to taste (I love using cinnamon and turmeric
together)
Total Estimated Cost: About $10
“Beans” Page 10...
Convos
Interview by Sam Schachter
Name: Spencer Alexander
Major: Visual Arts
Hails From: Torrington, CT
Favorite hub sandwich: Chicken Parmesan
Grinder
Sam: So you’re into graffiti art? How did that
happen? Banksy’s pretty interesting
Spencer: Yeah I really dig Banksy’s work. I’ve
been making stencils since seventh grade, but
I never thought about tagging them on a wall till
my senior year of high school. I was introduced
to banksy’s stuff and I said, “ I could totally do
that.” So I guess that’s how it all started...
That’s’ pretty badass. I have to ask, any
trouble with the po?
Not yet. Knock on wood.
Yeah, I got arrested last summer for using a
fake ID. Not so badass.
[laughs] Did you spend the night in jail?
Almost, I got the handcuffs, fingerprints,
and mugshot. It made me feel pretty
great. My mom was proud to say the least.
Anyways, let’s talk about the student run
museum/gallery thing. Is it as cool as I
think it should be?
I honestly don’t know much about it, but I think
it could definitely have the potential to be
really cool. There are so many amazing artists
here at Purchase.
I feel like that’s the case with all the arts
here. There are so many different talented
people but they don’t receive the support
from the student community for people to
take enough notice or interest.
Yeah I mean I think that Purchase is a really
great community, and there is a lot of support
from fellow students. There are some really cool
things like Fluxus Friday and First Wednesdays
at the Neuberger, but there could definitely be
more.
I could ask you to pull a Barack Obama and
ask what you would do to make the situation
better, but I’ll leave that to him. [awkward
political pause] He’s pretty great, eh?
Sp: He is great. Definitely what this country
needs.
Sa: Okay, now let’s say, it’s 2020
and aliens take over the
world and make cartoon
characters into actual
beings. However they can
only hold public office.
Who are you voting for
and who is their running
mate?
I would say QuickDraw
McGraw for
president, with
his little donkey
sidekick as the
vice president.
[anime nerd
laughter]
“ S p e n c e r ”
Page 10...
shooting us?” “Oh well! Fire missiles!”??Then France is like, “Shit guys...we got ze missiles zey are coming! Fire our shit!” “But
INTEREST
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