Black Beans and Rice

So I've been sitting on this recipe for a long while now, but since I started my new job today, I am once again inspired to cook/blog!  While I haven't actually made this since I left Chicago, I'm excited to cook it here and bring the delicious leftovers along with me for lunch.  Because, for me, this dish is all about the leftovers.  The flavors actually get better as they soak together in the fridge, so it's perfect for a week's worth of protein-rich lunches.  I adapted this recipe from the Whole Foods website—my version's a little less fancy, but you've probably figured out by now that I don't like to use tons of ingredients.

You'll need:

2 cups brown rice (brown rice lessens the glycemic spike of the carb load and tastes just as good)

4 cups water

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 large white onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 can diced tomatoes with juice (Del Monte makes good diced tomatoes; just make sure to buy the kind without spicing)

3 cups canned black beans, drained

Salt

Pepper

Cook the brown rice according to the instructions on the package.  If you want to be fancy and dry-roast the rice before boiling it, be my guest.  Personally, I would skip this step.  Watch the rice carefully to make sure it doesn't burn—I am somewhat notorious for not noticing when all the water has boiled out, leaving me with a pot full of burned-up, sticky rice.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, adding the olive oil to the hot pan.  Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften and become translucent.  Add the bell pepper, garlic, and chili powder, mixing well.  Sauté for another 2 minutes, or until the bell pepper starts to soften slightly.  Reduce heat to low and add the canned tomatoes, simmering the mixture uncovered for about 15 minutes.  This should allow most of the liquid from the tomatoes to burn off (you want just a few tablespoons of liquid remaining).  Add beans and stir well.  Heat for another 5 minutes to warm up the beans and meld the flavors.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now, this dish is delicious warm and you can feel good about serving it right off of the stove.  As for me, I prefer to let it cool down, divide it up into four portions, stick it in some Tupperware, and reheat it later.  Again, I think this particular meal tastes better the next day, but I may be alone in this.

Regardless of your choice of serving timetable, enjoy with the compliments of the sous chef/quality inspector: