Black Beans and Rice

My little girl isn’t the biggest fan of meat, but she will eat beans.  While she enjoys them plain, the rest of us prefer a little more flavor.  This dish hit a good balance – spicy enough for adults but not too spicy for kids.  Beans are also cheap, which is nice for my food budget.

I’m including the recipe for making your own beans from dried beans. If you prefer to use canned beans, just use the lower sodium beans and rinse them well. If you haven’t cooked your own dried beans, you should try. It is very easy and tasty.

Black Beans and Rice (serves 4)

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 bell peppers, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced small
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon chili powder, more to taste
2 cups black beans (cooked or about 2 cans)
1 cup frozen corn
water, as needed
4 cups cooked brown rice

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Saute onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add seasonings. Cook for 1 minute more, stirring to keep spices from burning.

2. Add beans and corn. Cover pan and cook until heated through. If there isn’t enough liquid from the beans, add some water to pan, about 1/2 cup at a time.

3. Serve over cooked rice.

Nutritional Information (Amount per serving):

Calories: 453
Protein: 15.5 g
Fat: 7 g
Saturated Fat: less than 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrates: 83 g
Fiber: 12 g
Sodium: 227 mg

Black Beans in a Crockpot (makes about 6 cups of beans)

1 pound dried black beans
2 cups broth
4 cups water
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt

1. Sort beans and remove any debris. Rinse beans.

2. Place all ingredients except salt in crockpot. Cook for about 6-8 hours on low, or until beans are cooked to your preference. When beans are almost cooked, add the salt for 1 more hour of cooking.

Recipe Notes: This recipe is very flexible. You can adjust the amounts of vegetables to your preference. If you wanted it to haver more sauce, you could also add some salsa or tomatoes. I use a chipotle pepper powder which is pretty spicy, so I don’t add much. If you are using canned beans, you will need to add some water for sauce. Using beans in the crockpot, you will have some of the cooking liquid. You can presoak the beans before you cook them in the crockpot, but it doesn’t seem to reduce the cooking time much. I made this on the low iodine diet, so I didn’t add any cheese. I’m sure a little shredded cheese would be yummy, though. The nutritional information was calculated using no-sodium broth, since that is what I was using for the low iodine.

Source: adapted from several recipes online

Low iodine adjustment: Use a chili powder with no added salt. Use a broth with no added salt or made with non-iodized salt. Use non-iodized salt.