One of my pals adheres to the financial advice dispensed by Dave Ramsey and through her I've been exposed to a bit of his recommended method. Ramsey's approach to these things can be summed up by debt = bad which, although simple, is probably generally accurate. While my exposure to his actual output (despite covering any number of books, radio broadcasts, podcasts, written columns, textbooks for his "Financial Peace University" and so on - he's like the Martha Stewart of money) is almost non-existant I am familiar with his saying that one should live on "beans and rice, rice and beans" until the family debt is completely eliminated.

The message encourages frugality and responsibility, although I never thought that "beans and rice, rice and beans" was all that tough a prescription, as catchphrases go. Beans and rice is a lovely meal. Rice and beans, too, for that matter. As I ruminated on why such a delightful, nutritious, native-to-many-cultures dish was being cast as a pennance for financial irresponsibility - said ruminations happening as I was preparing last night's dinner of, natch, beans and rice and rice and beans - I realized that the way Dave Ramsey means beans and rice is probably much different than the way I, and most home cooks, actually prepare them.

I think that what he's after is this notion that, until one has paid off one's debt - a good and worthy goal - one should eat plain and uninspiring food. I envision Minute Rice and a can of store-brand beans, doled out to the miserable hoards looking forward to the day when mom is allowed by Mr. Ramsey's advice to buy a steak (with cash!) and they can all be happy again.

But no! I say to all Ramseyites that your days of beans and rice can be lovely, not punishing, largely because the reason that beans and rice came to be such a staple of peoples all over the world is precisely because it is both healthy and relatively inexpensive, and can be augmented by bits and pieces of whatever condiments, leftover meats and veggies might be on-hand. A bit of pepper, onion, grated carrot, diced squash, kale, vinegar, sausage or some of all of these and you've got a dish to please kings and paupers alike.

These days I start by rehydrating beans in my rice cooker on the "soup" setting, although I do keep some canned black and kidney beans and chick peas around for speed on the days we need it. Lentils and split peas don't require this treatment and are also nice for times when we're running in a thousand directions. Once you settle the question of what bean(s) you'd like and what you need to do to them to get ready, work on the rest.

I start by dicing some onion and mincing a bit of garlic, and sauteeing them in whatever I've got - olive oil works, as does bacon fat or broth (or a combination). If I've got bell pepper, that gets chopped and added, too. I've also been known to add grated carrot at this point or shredded cabbage or kale. This is a good time to add meats as the onion begins to become translucent - sausage like chorizo or kielbasa is nice, as is chopped leftover beef or pork - but meat is not a requirement of a tasty, filling outcome. If you've only got onion, that's fine. If you've got half an onion and an inch of carrot and the bottom half of a pepper, that's fine, too. Or whatever. There are few rules other than you use what you have and like.

When the veggies are heated, add the drained beans (remember when working with dried beans that, like rice, the end result will be much more in volume than you started with) and perhaps even some fresh or canned diced tomato (or not) and stir. Just before taking off the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper and whatever other spices seem appropriate (adobo can be nice or maybe some curry or garam masala with lentils or peas) and add any fragile greens like spinach.

Serve hot, over rice, with any condiments that might taste good. Last night we had no meat in the pot, but salsa, plain yogurt, pepper sauce and grated cheese rounded things out nicely. On other occasions mango pickle and - a recurring theme at our house - plain yougurt was nice. Once I had only a bit of homemade paneer from a friend but diced up very fine and used with lots of peas and spinach it made a very nice dinner stretched for seven people.

The point of all this is that "beans and rice, rice and beans" needn't be thought parismonious. It is, of course, but not in any way that I think Dave Ramsey means it. Messing around with a bit of this and a bit of that as ingredients are available is honest home cooking as performed by millions of cooks throughout time. Beans and rice should be an end, and one we're happy to be at, and not a means to an end to be endured until something better comes along.