A brief #introduction: I'm Crystal (she/her)! I'm a researcher at MIT working at the intersection of social justice x computing, which includes stuff about social media misinfo, data vis, tech + disability.
When I'm not doing research, I'm at Mozilla working on the Responsible Computer Science Challenge, which thinks thru critical approaches to CS pedagogy.
I also have a dog named Laika who will make frequent appearances here. 🐕 Ask me about veg cooking + my obsession w Rancho Gordo beans!
@crystaljjlee
Welcome! Also, I am unfamiliar, but now incredibly curious - what is a Rancho Gordo bean, and what makes them awesome?
@PhDMarie thanks! So RG beans are ~heirloom~ and fresher than ones in most grocery stores, so they cook more quickly / evenly but importantly are MUCH more flavorful. Here are the two I bought most recently (below is the Christmas Lima bean cooked) — I wouldn’t have believed it, but just cooking the beans in plain water and half a sautéed onion gives you an inky, heady, most unctuous broth. Bean broth: who knew?!
@PhDMarie Also to be up front, they’re an incredibly bougie bean, but if you compare how many meals you’d get from a bag vs. how much you’d spend buying meat, it’s a much easier trade! I think seeing beans in a new light has been an unexpected side effect of cooking more vegetarian meals — it really has expanded my culinary vocabulary in ways I really appreciate.
@crystaljjlee
The way you described them, I think I love them already! I've been trying to do more vegetarian meals in our household too, but I'll admit that I am less than creative (or skilled!) in the kitchen. I'm going to have to give these a try!
