Black beans and rice - to nice to be mild

Some nights, I just want something hot and filling for dinner; and I don't really seem to care what that contains. There's a specific texture I'm looking for--silken without sauce--that always comes to mind when I think of rice and beans. I think it's a perfect dinner for any night. My SO thinks its bland. We live in two different worlds of taste. He's a fire-eater and I, alas, am not.

So this is my non-fire-eating version, which he thinks is just OK. More for me!

I like making beans from scratch, but in the spring--when the beans take 2+ hours to cook, being that they are so very old, I use canned. I drained 1 can of black beans and 1 can of navy beans and rinsed the beans well. This gets rid of a lot of salt, and I've always found the thick bean liquid in cans rather disgusting.

Once well-drained, I carefully diced up a yellow onion, red bell pepper, chipotle pepper in adobe sauce, two-ounces of medium chorizo, and 4 garlic cloves. I warmed olive oil in a pan, then added the onions and bell peppers, stirring occasionally until the onions wilted.

Then I added the rest of the vegetables. I cooked the rice separately (in water). When it was done, I added the beans and rice to the pan along with 2 cups of home-made chicken broth. This replaces the bean cooking liquid required by the original recipe and adds a lot of flavour.

Stir well to incorporate, add the spices, and allow to simmer. The cooked rice will absorb a lot of the liquid. If it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and uncover to allow the steam to escape. Serve it hot topped with cilantro and lime.

Ingredients
1 cup dried black beans (3 cups cooked)
1 two-ounce link chorizo, diced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, coarseley chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobe sauce, diced
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup white rice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 lime, juiced

Directions
1. Bring 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil; add the rice, reduce heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes more. Fluff with a fork and then spoon some rice into each bowl.

2. Drain the beans. Dice the onion, pepper, and garlic. Heat the oil over medium-high in a large sauce pan, and add the minced vegetables, chorizo, and cumin. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften somewhat, about 5 minutes. Add the drained beans, cilantro, cooked rice, and 2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook off any extra liquid.

3. Remove the beans from the heat and stir in the lime juice and top with cilantro. Serve hot.

A lunch-time salad

A brightly colored and crunchy salad that doesn't use lettuce. A great summer time lunch or a side-dish for grilled meats.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
Serves: 5 (main course), 10 (side dish)
Version: 2.0
Original: Colorful black bean and crab salad.
Posted by Just Call Me Martha on Oct 2, 2002

Notes/Modifications

I was looking for a low-gi lunch salad that didin't use lettuce. I'm really not sure how well I did, but I do enjoy this salad.

The salad recipe originates on Recipezaar. I liked the idea of the salad, but not the corn or the jalapeno peppers. The sauce is very strong and not office-friendly. In future I'd cut the garlic down to 1 clove, and grate it instead of mincing. I'm currently serving the salad with an extra-virgin olive oil based Italian dressing, although it goes well with almost any vinagrette.

Equipment required

• Cutting board & knife.
• Measuring cups & spoons.
• Non-reactive salad bowl & salad tongs.
• Non-reactive mixing bowl and whisk.

Ingredients

2 cups	cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups	black beans, drained and rinsed
1	red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1	chili, I used a cubanello, seeded and chopped
1/8 cup	cilantro, minced
1/8 cup	parsley, minced
4	green onions, chopped
12 ounces	artificial crab meat
1 clove	garlic, grated
1 teaspoon	cumin
1/4 teaspoon	black pepper, freshly ground
2 teaspoons	white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons	lime juice
2 teaspoons	water
3 tablespoons	extra virgin olive oil
1 cup	sugar snap green beans, chopped

Directions

1. Mix together thecauliflower, black beans, red pepper, chili, cilantro, green onions, sugar snap peas, and crab meat.
2. Add the cumin and pepper to the grated garlic.
3. Mix into a paste.
4. Add the vinegar, lime juice and water to garlic mixture.
5. Mix well.
6. Whisk in olive oil.
7. Pour dressing over bean mixture and stir well.

Barbecued Lemon Trout

This entry first appeared on Recipe Maven (LJ).
Entry: When I first met the fish - it was two frozen trout fillets and, while it had good color - it was frigid and almost without promise. A day or so in the dark and coolness of my fridge made the trout relent, and it was far more malleable when I got home. I didn't want any evidence - so no photos were taken.

By then, however, the lemon and the lime were barely on talking terms and had to be gotten rid of. They were hiding behind two bread heels that were no better than the citrus. Obviously they had to go too. Pepper is a great one for conspiracies - so there was no way I was going to leave him out of this. But the trout alone wasn't enough - it needed a sidekick, and in the summer a mixed salad is always available for any nefarious plot.

The trout took a bath and lost its packaging quickly enough, and, after toweling it off, I set it on a plate to rest. The microplaner made quick work of the lemon's peel, and after a quick squeeze over my fingers - the lemon wasn't keeping any secrets. The lemon juice made the trout wet and bitter - it was starting to cook before my very eyes. But I wasn't done yet. On the counter, watching the whole affair - the lime began to sweat; but I left it there, knowing it would perform better under stress. Naturally pepper had to get into it - a sprinkling of ground pepper atop the zest and lemon juice was hardly visible, but everyone would know its presence later.

The Box Grater changed the bread heels forever. No longer heels, they were now fresh bread crumbs. They were sprinkled over the trout so I couldn't see it cooking anymore. About the time I went out and lit the gas grill the lime had stopped sweating, and the trout looked presentable. The trout went onto the gas grill (skin side down) with a hiss and a whiff of steam, but the lemon and the pepper kept it fragrant and the bread crumbs were already soaking up most of juice and the smell.

Back inside I wiped away the scene of the crime and dug out my trusty salad spinner - all in front of the lime.
A large red bell pepper fell to my chef's knife and I gutted it and discarded the ends. Next came the lettuce. Romaine leaves - bright green and vibrant; I cut them into bite-sized pieces and stacked them all in my salad spinner. After a good rinsing I spun them dry and dumped them into my salad bowl. The bell pepper and romaine lettuce were already well entangled. Three tablespoons of mixed beans (with as little of the bean liquid as possible) fell into the center of the salad. To it I added 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 1 of olive oil, and of course ground pepper. Now everything gleamed in a shine that only oil can provide. I stirred the mixed salad up quickly and put it in the fridge to get better acquainted.

Outside the fish was steaming, but not quite done when I checked on it (the edges flaked easily when poked with a fork, but the middle was still pretty wet). So I closed the lid and went away for 10 minutes. When I came back the fish was a nice even pink and the edges a bit charred. I quickly pulled the fish off the grill and turned off the gas. Back in the house I finally dealt with that lime. I rolled it around first, giving it a good workout before I diced it into eighths.

I plated the fish with a 1/2 lime splayed atop the fish. I filled the rest of the plate with the mixed salad and beans. It was a simple meal without regrets. I did it once, and I'd do it again.

Makes 2 servings.
Ingredients
* 1 lemon
* 1 lime
* 2 trout fillets, deboned but with skin
* 2 pieces bread, heels preferred
* 2 teaspoons pepper, freshly ground

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 3 tablespoons mixed beans, from a can
* 3 cups romaine lettuce, washed and diced
* 1 red bell pepper, gutted, washed and diced

Instructions
1. Wash the fish and pat dry.
2. Zest the lemon atop the fish.
3. Squeeze the lemon's juice atop the fish.
4. Sprinkle ground pepper atop the fish.
5. Grate the bread into bread crumbs and sprinkle atop the fish.
6. Place on a hot barbeque (preferably covered)
7. Cook until the center is done (about 20 minutes). Do not flip.
8. Wash the salad and mix all the ingredients together.
9. Dice the lime and add it atop the fish.
10. Serve 1/2 trout and 1/2 salad.