This post was supposed to be a comparison of two recipes for black beans and brown rice. One I found on the internet (I don’t remember what website), but it was very simple and basic and therefore, I suspected it might not be too tasty. The second is from Joy of Cooking, which is usually my trustworthy encyclopedia of all things related to food, ingredients and cooking. However, the Joy of Cooking recipe really failed me today. It was probably my own fault for not doing some research on the internet before following the recipe exactly as written. On page 276 of the cookbook (1997 ed.), there is a recipe entitled “Black bean and rice.” It calls for “1 habanero or other fresh chili pepper, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste.” I don’t know much about my peppers although recently, I made a disgusting lentil salad where I used jalapeno pepper (and probably should have used something else because the dish tasted like salsa). Anyways, I didn’t realize how crazy spicy a single habanero pepper is (or didn’t remember? my husband says we once bought a salsa which contained some) until after the dish was completely done and I tasted it. WOW! My mouth is still tingling 14 hours later. Four hours after I cut the peppers, I wiped my eyes with my hands (which I had thoroughly washed 3 times) and my eyes stung for 10 minutes. I was unable to open or blink them. Anyways, so the winning recipe is obviously the black beans and rice recipe I found on the internet. Click on the photo below for more details. In case you care, a photo of my inedible (fiery hot spicy) Joy of Cooking black beans and rice can found at the bottom of the page.
Mexican brown rice and black beans
Ingredients:
1 tbsp veg oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
3 c cooked brown rice
1 15 oz can black beans
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
heat oil in skillet, add garlic, chili powder and cumin
saute 3-5 min until onion is tender
add rice, beans
cook, stirring 2-3 min until mixture is thoroughly heat
serve with cheese, green onion, yogurt, salsa
Don’t make this at home:
