Dirty Lunch

When I need to whip up and cheap and easy lunch that will last most of the week I turn to dirty beans and rice. My husband works with a lot of international students (and loves it). Last time he had this for lunch they asked him where he was from because he was eating like the Latinos. They were impressed. Street cred for us.

Quick Dirty Beans

2 celery stalks

2 bell peppers (preferably two different colors)

Black beans (about 2-3 cans worth, but I just use my own frozen)

1-2 cloves garlic

½ onion (any color, I usually use yellow)
½-1 yam (depending on size)

Cumin

Coriander

Salt

Pepper
Chili powder/fresh chili (optional)
Cayenne pepper (optional)

Red wine vinegar

Olive Oil

Rice

Lime

Plain Greek yogurt (optional-I use this is lieu of sour cream)

Fresh cilantro (optional)

Cheese

(1a. Optional-cut up some ham or bacon and cook that in the pot before moving on to step 1)

1.     Get a pot going with 2ish tablespoons olive oil on a medium-low to medium heat

2.     Chop vegetables except, and add all except yams to the pot

3.     Start cooking rice (I almost always recommend brown)

4.     Once vegetables have softened (appear translucent), add chopped or crushed garlic, cumin and coriander

5.     Sweat vegetables with spices for 3-5 minutes

6.     Add beans including liquid (don’t drain)

7.     Blend up 1 can of tomatoes

8.     Take a few scoops of beans out of the pot and add to the blender (this is up to your preference-it gives it a thick sauce that soaks into the rice rather than just biting into beans and then rice. You can also partially blend some to have the full range of the spectrum)

9.     Season with salt, pepper, optional chilis and 2-3 splashes of vinegar (also add more cumin and coriander as needed) and add chopped yams

10.  Let it simmer for as long as you can stand to wait-the longer the better (this will help the flavors soak in and also help reduce it if it is too liquidy)

11.  Dish up rice, and top with beans

12.  Add lime, yogurt (unless you’ll be reheating later, then obviously wait to add), chopped cilantro and cheese.

This feeds my husband and I for lunch for about 2-3 days.

There's not a whole lot more to say about this. It's relatively fast and super easy and keeps me from having to come up with something for lunches every night. Also, I just discovered the wonder of using my cast iron pan in lieu of a normal non-stick pot. I highly recommend it.