Tuesday, March 30, 2010

"Saucey" Beans and Rice

We frequently have a 'beans and rice' meal to be able to keep our healthy eating within budget. I have gotten bored with plain old rice and beans, beans and rice, though the children don't mind. We have refried beans and rice and black beans and rice.


This week I tried something different and it was so simple and tasty!


I sauteed some onion, red pepper and garlic in some oil. I added about two cups or so of tomato sauce. (could have been diced tomatoes or whatever kind of tomato product you have on hand) some homemade chicken stock (about a cup) and some of my "Homemade Taco Seasoning" and a lot of soaked, cooked, frozen then thawed black beans! (One reason this is so simple is that I always cook up a ridiculous amount of beans and freeze them in freezer bags to have ready for such a meal as this.)


I then let it simmer for about 20 minutes for the flavors to meld.

I served this over brown rice that had been soaked and made in the oven, ( so easy) and a salad with homemade Ranch dressing! Yummy!! I thought I had made enough for two meals, but the children loved it so much that many of them had three helpings!


Recap:


chopped onion

chopped red pepper (any color will do)

chopped garlic

coconut oil


Saute for a few minutes, until tender.


Add:


soaked, cooked black beans

tomato product of your choice

taco seasoning

chicken stock


Simmer for 2o minutes and you have what we call "Saucy Black Beans"


Serve over rice or with your favorite organic, non-GMO corn chips!


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9 comments:

Camille said...

Thanks for sharing this Michelle! I am into doing the beans and rice dinners too! AND I *love* it that you posted those great video tutorials for chicken stock. I updated my chicken stock post to include a link to your post with the videos in it ~ why reinvent the wheel, right? AND I can link to a friend in the process...wonderful! :)

Have a lovely week my friend!
Love,
Camille

P.S. I am going to try this one this week ~ thanks! :)

Jenni said...

This sounds great. I am going to have to try it. Right now I am all out of stock. Need to add it to my list for next week after the weekend travels.

Thank you for posting.

Unknown said...

YUMMY! I'll have to try this! Sounds delicious!

busymomof10 said...

I love black beans! This sounds good! I used to make a Cuban black bean and rice that was flavored with lime juice and it was so pretty to serve. You mound rice on the center of a platter, spoon the beans around the edge, and garnish with slices of boiled eggs and red onion rings. YUMMY! I just remembered this dish, and should pull it out to make again!

A couple questions:

Is the oven brown rice recipe already on your blog?

What brand of coconut oil do you use? I can barely stomach the flavor of the last brand I bought!! :(

And do you still eat beans and rice when trying to reduce carbs? I am especially wondering about the beans, since they are half protein and half carbs and not a grain? I have to have something to fall back on when the budget is busted?? :)

thanks!
Elizabeth

Michelle (She Looketh Well) said...

Hi Elizabeth!

I am planning on putting the brown rice post up soon. I almost hesitated to mention it in this post because I knew it wasn't up yet. Look for it soon!

I use the coconut oil from Mountain Rose Herbs. I buy a five gallon bucket. I personally don't love the flavor of coconut oil in savory dishes, but my family doesn't mind. I do know you can buy the more refined version for a less coconutty flavor, you do lose 'some' of the health benefits, but not all. At least that is my understanding. I might try it. Kelly the Kitchen Kop has a good write up on this as she doesn't like it either.

I really don't eat to much of the bean and rice type dinners because of the carb content and I am trying really hard to be very intentional about getting only nutrient dense foods in as I am trying to heal and rebuild my body. Not that beans and rice aren't VERY nutritious, just not as nurtient dense as beef, liver, eggs, coconut oil, butter ect. I still have a little bit of what the family is having but in this case I might add ground beef to mine and not eat the rice. I have found it very easy to 'tweak' things so I don't have to eat all the carb heavy meals. The children actually need the carbs to grow, me, not so much! LOL I have done all the growing I want to thank you very much! Does that make sense? If not, please keep asking!

Michelle (She Looketh Well) said...

Thanks Camille for the linky love ;-) I had a blast doing the video and am praying about which other one the Lord would have me do. I am thinking of doing one on how I do beans, soaking to cooking to freezing copious amounts! Or some other kitchen tricks and techniques I use . . .

Jenni, you don't have to use chicken stock, I have used water too.

Anonymous said...

We love beans in our household, especially in soups. I can also get into the beans and rice rut! It's nice to have an alternative, thanks.

Sheri said...

Michelle,
We are having your black beans and rice tonight! My husband groaned just a bit, so I promised some sausage. I have found that adding just a bit of meat makes him happy and still saves on my budget. Thanks again for the great ideas. Do you buy all organics? I'm struggling with the cost factor with organic produce. I love to offer lots of fresh produce, but the organics are expensive. I find that I'm buying both. The whole GMO thing has just come to the forefront of my mind, and it sure is tricky! Blessings,
Sheri

sanjeet said...

Have a lovely week my friend!
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