Glorious beans

When you decide to go GF, or more restrictive such as vegetarian or vegan, it doesn't take long before you start to embrace things like beans. I'm not talking canned baked beans, as much as I love them, they are full of sodium and additives that aren't good for you. I'm talking about red beans, butter beans, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, chickpeas.... real beans!

Beans are a wonderful ingredient to add to your meals for a firm texture and tons of nutrition. Ever had three bean salad? Or southern red beans and rice? How about hummus? They are all bean based dishes. You can make a meal out of them without much effort. Here's one we enjoy.

Black bean and veggies on rice

-Cook up a batch of brown rice: 2 cups water or broth to 1 cup rice. I like using a rice cooker for this job.
-In pan, cook 4 oz chopped mushrooms until sweat forms. Add 1/2 cup chunky tomato sauce (I like Muir Glenn) or chopped fresh tomato and some water to fill 1 cup. Sprinkle with chili powder. Add 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans or 16 oz of dried black beans that have been rehydrated. Heat through to a simmer then turn off heat. Set aside.



-Chop one small onion, one bell pepper (any color), one stalk of celery, cherry tomatos, and some fresh (or dried) parsley. The amounts of these ingredients is up to your liking. Place in bowl with 1/2 cup of sweet corn. Grind black pepper on top. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, no more than a couple of tablespoons. Mix together and set aside.

Layer ingredients on plate: rice, tomato mixture, veggie mixture. Top with finely shredded parmesan cheese or finely chopped walnuts. Serve with corn tortilla chips or GF bread that has been toasted and spread with garlic butter.

This sounds good to me. I think I'll be having some beans tonight!