My favorite quick, one pot meal…

We all need a go to meal.  Something that we have all the ingredients on hand at all times and is fast and easy to prepare right? 
This is mine.  It take me about 28 minutes from start to finish but longer if I use brown rice and guess what?  Everyone in the house will eat it!!!  That’s what truly makes this one pot dish a winner to me!
Bean and Rice Stew
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground turkey or beef
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 cup of frozen corn
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked rice (brown rice will increase the cooking time)
1 tsp Better than Bouillon beef flavored
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat Olive oil in a large, deep skillet.  cook onion and garlic til apaque and softened.  Cook the ground meat over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in water, rice, beans and corn.   Season with beef bouillon and salt and black pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked and water is absorbed.
***this recipe is super flexible.  Add to it what you want.  I have a friend who adds salsa to it to give it a different touch.  Use green peppers, add zucchini…really whatever you want to add.
****You can use brown rice with this.  It will increase your cooking time but what I have done before is to cook the rice in the morning and throw it in when everything else is cooked and just heat it through.

Black Beans and Rice

Black Beans and Rice

Now I am not going to tell you that these are typical Cuban, Puerto Rican, or any other Hispanic countries beans. These are just something that I have some up with that works really well for my family. I have tried them a bunch of different ways and this is what I keep coming back to. It's really all about the toppings anyway isn't it???

This really isn't a recipe but I just throw in what I have and to the amount that it tastes good. Last night I put in a bit too much cumin but that isn't a bad thing in my books!


Chop up an onion and some garlic and saute in some heated olive oil. When the onion and garlic are cooked add 2 cans of black beans or 1 lb of dried beans cooked per the directions on the bag. Add about 1/2 tsp of dried oregano, 1 tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and salt/pepper to taste. Cook to allow the the bean and sauce to thicken (about 20 mins) serve over hot rice. Top with tomatoes, pico de gallo, jalapeños, onion, sour cream or anything else you want!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Beans, beans the magical fruit....

Black Beans and Rice with toppings

You know how it goes don't you? Anyway that is what I made for dinner tonight. After 2 days of field day at the girls new school, karate and ice skating I needed something simple to start off the weekend! My inspiration for this meal came from one of my blogging friends Robin of Caviar and Codfish. I had really wanted to make her version of black beans and then serve them with rice and the toppings that we like to use. But as what usually happens to me when I have too many things going on I can't cook let alone follow a recipe!!!

First thing this morning I put the beans in a pot to soak them (yep-I wasn't suppose to do that). I then left the house for a fun filled field day for my oldest daughter.

Field day fun!

I stayed until lunch time and then ran some badly neglected errands and then went on home to start the beans and make some pico de gallo to top this with. I picked up the pot to drain the water out and as I was pouring I was reading the recipe (yep-wasn't suppose to do that either!). I stopped pouring and managed to save about half of the water so I just added some more and chopped up the onion and minced the garlic and put the pot onto boil away.

T. was expected home around 5 so I wanted most of the stuff done so we could sit and enjoy a cocktail before we had to finish off dinner. I turned the beans up top thicken them a bit and went to get the bottle of sherry. Bottle of Sherry?????? I could have sworn we had one. So anyway at this point there was no way I could follow Robin's recipe so here is her recipe with the changes that I made...Sorry Robin. I have to try this one again.


Simple Black Beans

1 lb dried black beans (picked over and rinsed but not soaked-yep I soaked them)
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 Tbsp olive oil
8 cups of water (I used 1/2 of the water that I soak them in and added 4 more cups)
1 1/2 tsp salt

I did okay up to here but this is where I went my own way Robin's called for Sherry, Soy Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar and hot Chinese chili paste. If you would like to follow Robin's recipe or just to check out her great pictures follow this Robin's Simple Black Beans or you could just continue with mine.

1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions:

• Soak the beans for at least 6 hrs in about 8 cups of water. Dump out half of the water and add 4 cups of water (or skip this bone head move of mine and just start the pot to boil!!!)
• Add the onion, garlic, oil salt, oregano, cumin, and garlic powder.
• Simmer with the lid on for at least 2 hrs or until the beans are nice and tender. Remove the lid to reach your desired consistency.
• Stir in the vinegar
• Serve over rice with a variety of toppings.

We love the beans and rice with jalapenos, onions, pico de gallo and sour cream. This makes a nice hearty, low maintenance dinner!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com