But... Beans?

As an adult, I've always considered myself an adventurous eater.  That is, willing to try new foods, even ones that don't immediately appeal to me.  I tried deep fried insects in Thailand.  I've even tried food from the water on multiple occasions.  And I've actually learned to like a few foods, like mushrooms and mustard, over the years.  Part of the reason for that, is that I felt like I got a bad wrap as a picky eater as a kid.  Everyone has food they like, and dislike.  So what if some of my dislikes were foods that my family eats often?

Now that I've been a vegetarian, I've been challenged to expand my diet a little more.  I haven't really cut out a large amount of ingredients, but I have cut out a lot of dishes.  For example, most soups are animal stock based.  Often times the only soup offered at a particular restaurant that is left for me is tomato.  I never like tomato soup growing up, but I've actually been working on learning to like that one for years now.  And now I kind of do.  Especially a tomato bisque, or a "hearty" tomato soup with chunks of tomato in it.

Beans are a big substitute item in dishes.  Taco Bell will substitute them for any meat for free, for example.  But beans are the one food that really makes me groan.  Beans are the one food that I have vivid memories of being forced to eat as a kid.  I hated the taste, and the texture.  I hated the way they made me gassy, which was probably mostly from all the air I swallowed trying not to taste them.

But I did learn to like lentils, which have a similar texture, years ago.  And almost immediately after giving up eating animals, I learned to like hummus.  I actually really love it now, and eat it all the time.  It goes great with crushed peppers, which have tons of flavor, and almost no calories.

The other day I had a taco from Taco Bell with black beans.  I ate the whole thing... and it wasn't awful.  Even while eating it, I could taste things I liked, and I knew the things I didn't were mostly psychological.  When I was done, I realized in all my focus on eating the beans, I had forgotten to add any sauce.  That's like the best part of food from Taco Bell.  So I think black beans are essentially in the bank for me.

As for pinto and regurgitated, I mean refried, beans.  That's gonna take some time.