Smoky, spicy black beans and rice | Yoga for life

This week I'm posting recipes that have appeared on the blog in the past, and have since become favorite, go-to meals at our house. The recipe for smoky black beans first appeared in 2010, as a dish I created on-the-fly to be part of a Mexican cuisine birthday dinner for our middle son. Apparently, I was in the midst of a baking curse, creating sunken cupcakes and "bundt tops," so having the black beans turn out so successfully was probably one of the highlights of my kitchen experience that day. (Don't know what a bundt top is? You can read all about it here.) Perhaps you will enjoy this simple but extremely flavorful stove-top casserole as much as we do.

Smoky spicy black beans and rice

• 1-1/2 cups raw, long grain brown rice
• 2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium onions)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cans low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups home-cooked)
• 2 peppers from a can of chipotle in adobo, minced (less if you want to reduce the heat)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions

1. Cook the rice, preferably in a rice cooker. The rice should be fairly dry. I cooked brown basmati in a rice cooker with 1-3/4 cups of water.
2. In a large wok or skillet, sauté the onion in the oil . As the onion starts to brown, add the garlic, cumin and oregano and cook for a minute or two until the cumin is toasted and fragrant. (You could also pre-toast the cumin, remove it from the pan, and add it back in at this point.
3. Add the pepper and celery, and cook for two minutes, stirring, until the vegetables start to soften. Add the salt and mix in.
4. Add the rice and toss with the vegetables. Cook for two minutes to flavor the rice.
5. Add the beans and chipotle. Heat until the beans are hot.
6. Optional: Stir in 1/2 cup chopped green onions, and cook 30 seconds before serving. Or garnish with raw chopped green onions.
7. Optional garnish #2: thinly sliced red radishes.

Generously serves six as a side dish, or four as a main course alongside salad and a vegetable.

note: If you want the dish smokey but not spicy, use 1 teaspoon of mild smoked Spanish paprika instead of the chipotle in adobo.

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Yoga for life



A friend sent me a video by Julia Warr that I found very inspirational, so I'm sharing it with you.