Start With ... Black Beans

Black beans, in addition to being a great addition to your disaster meals pantry, are delicious, nutritious, and unbelievably easy to use. You can add them to just about anything (except maybe chocolate sauce). They're nutty, sweet, tender, and oh, just perfect. So use a lot of them this week, especially in Black Bean Wild Rice Salad (pictured), which is my new favorite. It's great for lunchboxes too!

_{Photo © 2007 Linda Larsen, licensed to About.com, Inc.}