Gallo Pinto (Black Beans and Rice)
This is such a tasty recipe. I originally watched a Honduran guy named Chuck make it in my apartment kitchen my senior year of college, and I've combined what I remember from him with Cuban recipes from a lovely Mennonite international cookbook.
Saute in a wide & deep frying pan:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
When the onion is translucent, add 1/3 of the mixture and a dash of salt to a pot of yet uncooked rice (about 3-4 servings). Cook using your preferred rice-making method.
Open two cans of black beans, drain one but don't pour off the liquid from the other. To the veggies left in the frying pan, add the two cans of black beans & liquid.
Add:
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 t oregano
1 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
salt & pepper
cayenne to taste
Simmer for as long as it takes the rice to cook.
Serve beans over rice.
(You can top with cheese or sour cream, but it's irresistable as is. You can also add chicken to this recipe - cooked with the onion & pepper before adding the beans.)
adapted from Honduran Chuck and
Extending the Table, A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach
Saute in a wide & deep frying pan:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
When the onion is translucent, add 1/3 of the mixture and a dash of salt to a pot of yet uncooked rice (about 3-4 servings). Cook using your preferred rice-making method.
Open two cans of black beans, drain one but don't pour off the liquid from the other. To the veggies left in the frying pan, add the two cans of black beans & liquid.
Add:
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 t oregano
1 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
salt & pepper
cayenne to taste
Simmer for as long as it takes the rice to cook.
Serve beans over rice.
(You can top with cheese or sour cream, but it's irresistable as is. You can also add chicken to this recipe - cooked with the onion & pepper before adding the beans.)
adapted from Honduran Chuck and
Extending the Table, A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach
Comments
On the vegetarian front: Shannon, the mostly vegetarian and poultry/fish a few times a week thing is exactly what I do. I don't need to worry about cooking for men or anything, so it might be easier for me to swing it, but it's definitely doable in general. I've actually been trying to get myself to eat a little more chicken and fish recently because I know I'm not getting enough protein, but I could be more proactive on the beans and cheese front, too.
Also, my favorite vegetarian cookbook is the lowfat Moosewood one. It is awesome, and doesn't ask for quite as many weird things you might not have around the way the original Moosewood does. (My two experiments with seitan, by the way, have been very very very bad.)