What''s for dinner?

[brooklyngirl]

Pot roast just went back in the oven. It was bloody in the middle. Not sure what I did wrong there

 

[Haven]

Date: 11/10/2009 4:47:33 PM
Author: ladypirate
We''re doing black beans & rice tonight--keepin'' it simple.

The black beans are in the crock pot right now.

Mmmm! This is one of my favorite meals, I make it twice a week. It''s so easy and so good! I''ve been slowly adding more heat each week to toughen up DH, he''s a weakling when it comes to hot food, but we''re up to three jalapenos per two servings, now.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Black beans and rice sounds yummy! Care to share the recipe?

 

[zoebartlett]

Everyone''s dinners sound really good! The beef stew and the chicken and dumplings I recently made got better and better each day, and we''re finally nearing the end of both meals. I think dinner tonight will be whole wheat spaghetti or linguine and meat sauce.

 

[Bia]

I make rice and beans at least 3-4 times a week so if you want an easy, every day recipe, see below:

This works for any beans really, but our favorites our black (my fav!), red, pink or garbanzo (chick peas):

Ingredients (not entirely sure about the measurements/time since I eyeball everything)

Beans:
2 tbsp of Extra Vir Olive Oil
2 cans of beans of your choice - rinsed thoroughly to remove salt - I prefer GOYA or Trader Joes
1 medium onion (yellow or red) - diced
2-3 cloves of garlic - diced/minced
1/2 red pepper - diced
1/2 yellow (green is good too) - diced
1/2 Jalepeno or tiny bit of habanero (watch out, MAJOR heat)
2 tomatoes OR 3/4 can of canned diced tomatoes
Handful of chopped cilantro (I use chopped frozen cilantro when I don''t have fresh)
1/2 Tbsp of cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
splash of red or white wine - not necessary but I like it
2 Cups of water
salt & pepper


Start by sautéing onions in olive oil until translucent (med-high heat). Add in garlic, allowing it to cook in oil for 1 minute or so.Then add peppers, tomato and spices, sauté. Add wine and simmer for 1 minute or so. Add beans and water and simmer on med-low for 30 minutes - stirring every few minutes. *Beans will thicken up as you stir. Serve over rice. We use Brown Jasmine rice which is fluffy like white long-grain but more nutritious (so they say).

I know many people who will say using canned beans is a no-no if you''re making authentic rice and beans. I beg to differ. Yea, when I have the time, I''ll soak them and do the whole making-from-scratch thing. But to be honest, I think canned beans come out just as good - definitely good enough for every day and it saves a whole lot of time. Also, I put an asterisk in there because while this dish gets better and better the longer you cook, I have noticed that when I need to make this fast and don''t have an hour to let them simmer, I can still thicken them nicely. To do this, while they are simmering let the beans stick a bit to the bottom of your saucepan (beans are heavy and drop to the bottom). When you stir you can feel them sticking, so keep stirring and break up the pieces. Doing this thickens up the beans and nothing sticks to the pot because the soup will clean the bottom as you stir.

*my family also puts in a ham bone (when making from scratch) or bacon but since FI and I try not to eat meat that much, usually we leave it out. Also, BAY leaves are optional.

Also, sorry my directions are all over the place

I didn''t take this one out of a recipe book.