Cuban Black Beans

I must say I am so blessed to have a husband that will eat about almost anything. Not only are his tastebuds easy to please, but they are also cheap! I, on the other hand, prefer bold flavors. The other night he requested rice and beans so I looked for a recipe that would be able to satisfy both of our buds. This recipe from Cooking Light is good and inexpensive. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
Vegetable cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 cups no-salt-added tomato juice
3 (15 ounces) can black beans, drained
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomaotes, undrained and chopped
1 (8 ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimiento, drained
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 cups cooked instant brown rice (cooked without salt or fat)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Coat a large Dutch over with cooking spray; add oil. Place over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion and green pepper; saute until tender. Add tomato juice and next 7 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until vegetable are tender.
Place 1 cup rice in each individual bowl. Spoon 1 cup bean mixture over rice, and top each with cheese.
Yields: 8 serving

What I learned:
1. 8 servings will last you a long time and each serving costs less than $2
2. Beans and rice doesn't have to be bland

-Laura


Be sure to come back next week as Brit and I are planning our first giveaway!

Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers

I noticed our little recipe blog was lacking in healthy food...maybe that explains the 10 pound weight gain this year! I am always out for things that taste really good AND they aren't terrible for you! I know it's a hard concept to understand but I know those recipes are out there. Well, this is one of those recipes. It was delicious! I was full after dinner but it wasn't one of those guilty fulls where you know you just gained 2 pounds in one sitting. This is another Allrecipe.com recipe and I highly recommend it! My husband and my parents thought they were great. I doubled the recipe so we had leftovers. I made some homemade sweet potato fries to go along with which I will share later this week!

Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Adapted from All Recipes

1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green pepper cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 eggs
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
1 cup bread crumbs

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking (which is what we did) preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. After the black beans are drained and rinsed pat dry them with a paper towel to get the extra moisture out. Then mash the beans in a medium size bowl with a fork or spoon until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor finely chop the green bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Strain the green pepper, onion and garlic in a small strainer to remove any excess water. Then stir into the mashed beans.
4. In a seperate small bowl stir together the eggs, chili powder, cumin and chili sauce until well blended.
5. Stir the egg mixture in with the bean mixture. Add bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and hold together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. This step is optional. After I divided the mixture into patties I covered the baking sheet and put it in the refridgerator for 30-45 minutes. This helped them stick together more.
7. If grilling place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet and bake about 10-12 minutes on each side. I added cheese about 1-2 minutes before I took the patties out of the oven.

Serve with avocados!

-Brittany