Black Beans and Rice

I know I said I'd be back to post about my birthday cupcakes, but I actually have this delicious black bean and rice dish banked, and if I don't post about it now, I know I'll forget and it will never happen. But don't worry! The cupcakes are coming! And you're not losing anything by getting this post first. In fact you're gaining because this dish is delicioussss! And really quick and simple! It's also versatile.
The first thing you need to do is cook up some rice. One cup (dry) to be exact. I didn't take a photo of rice cooking, though, for what I feel are obvious reasons. It's boring. It's self-explanitory.


The real fun starts with what I call the "dressing." In a large bowl you combine olive oil, lime (or lemon) juice, chili powder, ground cumin, turmeric, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and a can of green chilies. We use mild chilies because we don't like spicy food that much, but you can use any kind of green chilies, depending on how spicy you like your food!


Add in some chopped green onions and tomato...


and a can of black beans (rinsed thoroughly first, of course!).


Give it a good stir and wait for your rice to finish.


Then throw your rice in (we like basmati), mix it up well, again, and serve!

It's really that simple. Now, you may be wondering how you serve this dish. Well, as I said, it's versatile! The recipe is originally a wrap filling. Whip up some guacamole and your own tortillas, if you're feeling ambitious, chop up some lettuce and cheese and you've got yourself some delicious and healthy wraps. I've also baked this, with cheese on top! I've also stuffed peppers with it and baked them in the oven! But normally, we just eat it as a side dish with some form of protein (meat for Anders, vegetarian hot dogs for me, usually), and some cooked vegetables! It's really very tasty and when you can use it for so many things, you can't really go wrong! It keeps well in the fridge and makes a great quick snack as leftovers.

Now, before I move on to the recipe, I wanted to give myself a little shameless plug. I'm starting a very long photography project tomorrow, and while I don't know how many people actually read this blog regularly, I thought I'd plug it here, in case anyone who does read it is interested! There's nothing up there, now. My first post will appear at 12AM, eastern time. Thanks!

Recipe
Black Beans and Rice

1 cup dry rice, cooked
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime (or lemon) juice
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (114 ml) (mild) green chilies
1 cup tomato, chopped
6 green onions, diced
1 can (540 ml) black beans, drained and well rinsed

Cook rice and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Add cooked rice and mix well. Serve as a side dish, baked with cheese on top, or stuffed in peppers.

Guten Appetit! Continue reading...

Tortilla Soup

This soup was inspired by my friend and faithful reader Irina. Her recipe is very loose and vague, so I really just did whatever I wanted to, and based it on her recipe. Oh man, it's exciting.


I started by sautéing some salt and pepper, garlic, chili powder and a tiny amount of red pepper flakes in olive oil. I also put on a pot of rice, but I didn't really take photos of rice cooking... it's kind of like paint drying... pretty self explanatory.


Next I chopped up some green onions (I like them better than yellow or white onions).


And then some red peppers.


I added both those things to the pot and let them cook until they were a bit tender.


Then I poured in some vegetable broth.


While the broth was heating up, I chopped some grape tomatoes in half. Okay, so it was just supposed to be chopped tomatoes, but 1) there weren't any good ones AT ALL at the grocery store and 2) I thought it was be awesome.


Anyway, then I threw those tomatoes into the broth. I also threw in some tomato paste.

And while that was cooking a bit, I opened a can of kidney beans and a can of black beans...

and rinsed them!

I threw them into the broth, along with the cooked rice.

I let that cook for about 15 minutes and then it was time to eat!

Irina suggested putting chips and cheese (soy cheeseloaf, if you're actually Irina) in the bottom of the bowl and then pour the soup on top, but I really can't do soggy things.
And Anders doesn't do cheese, so he put chips on the bottom of his bowl, and I elected just to put some on top along with my cheese.

This soup was absolutely great and delicious and quick. It was like eating nachos in soup form or something! I also like that I can just throw in what I/the grocery store happen/s to have on hand. The other excellent point is that Anders liked it. We don't eat soup like... ever. When he eats soup, it's usually from a can and with big hunks of beef in it. It did happen to be a little spicy for him, but we both really enjoyed it a lot.

Recipe

Tortilla Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, pressed
6-8 green onions, chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth*
1-2 cups tomato, chopped
1 small can tomato paste
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 ½ cups cooked rice

×××

Sauté spices and garlic in oil. Add onion and pepper and cook until they become slightly tender. Add broth and simmer for a few more minutes. Add tomato and tomato paste and continue to simmer. Add beans and rice and stir well. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and cheese.

Guten Appetit! Continue reading...