August 8, 2008

ROUND SEVEN: Black Beans and Rice

Our fellow foodie, Jamie, is out of the country at this time but I didn't think she would want our blog to just sit here ...abandoned! With that being said, I decided to post this new recipe that I tried this week. Beth will have time to tweak it and post her rebuttal. By that time, Jamie should be back! Here goes...

Super Simple Cuban Black Beans and Rice
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) whole chopped tomatoes, undrained
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt

The original recipe (from Betty Crocker's Healthy New Choices cookbook) called to heat the first nine ingredients on the stove top for 45 minutes. I didn't want to be handcuffed to the stove that long so I decided to let my crock pot do the work for me. I put all the ingredients except the rice and yogurt into the crock pot on high and let that go for about 4 hours. You could probably do the same thing at 7am and let it go until dinner time too. About 10 minutes before I wanted to put supper on the table, I cooked the rice per package instructions. Spoon some rice into a bowl and top with the black bean mixture. A dollop of yogurt and an additional sprinkle of paprika finished off the presentation.

This recipe serves 6 and makes great leftovers. The orange juice gives it a sublet orange flavor and the yogurt adds a nice tang. It is also low calorie, low fat, and high in fiber. What more could you want!

2 comments:

Beth said...

Mmm...this is a good one. Lots to mess with here. The orange juice is a really interesting touch. Hope I can come up with something that looks that good!

Kristin said...

The orange juice was indeed inspirational, however it led to something utterly repulsive when I tried to add it to my black bean soup. DO NOT try this at home, kids. Seriously.

My lesson for the evening:
Keep oranges in recipes they belong in, keep them out of those that they don't. :)