> I also substitute more rice for the black beans. I just don't understand why anyone would want to eat those beans.

My mom used to make black beans ALL the TIME when I was littler. All of us kids hated it. I think it had something to do with her so being into Hispanic culture. When we went to Guatemala, we stayed with a family, and had black beans EVERY DAY. They made it into a kind of paste sometimes, which was tolerable. It's popular to make it with onions, though, and I couldn't eat it then.

Anyway, I think the reason people eat them (down there, anyway) is because they're cheap. And when combined with rice, they give you all the protein you would get from meat, which isn't so cheap. I think. I dunno. It's something I heard once but vaguely remember. :-)

So, when 'Mexican' food became popular, black beans came along with it. That be my guess.

Aya"Fascinating, no? Where did all that come from?"ko