Your Order's Up!

Tonight I had this random taste for a mexican inspired dish. Considering that it is November and freezing outside, I was a little surprised about this sudden desire for this cuisine. 
There are so many things I love about Mexican food. For one thing, the dishes can be extremely inexpensive to make. Who doesn't love that? Another reason why I love it is because there are so many creative dishes and unique flavors to play around with, as well as classics. 
Tonight I decided to make a classic bean and rice dish with a side of organic corn chips (I got mine from Target). Here's how I went about doing this:
To start I got out a small pot to cook my rice. I used brown rice because it is a healthier option, but white rice is great as well. I filled my pot with 1.5 cups of water and 1 cup of brown rice. I put the burner on as high as it could go to bring it to a boil quickly. Once it began boiling, I put the burner on low, added a lid to my pot, and let is simmer for 20 minutes. 
While my rice was cooking, I cut up some vegetables to saute with my beans and rice later on. This is where it gets fun because you can use whatever vegetables you enjoy! I did a mixture of green peppers, red tomatoes, green onions, and mushrooms. 
Once I was done prepping my vegetables my rice was done, so I let it sit with the burner off, keeping the lid on, for 10 more minutes. I took a small pan and added 2 tbsp's of olive oil. Then, I mixed in my vegetables and  black beans. To add a little more flavor I incorporated a little bit of Oregano and garlic. I let that sit on low for about 10 minutes. Once my rice was done, I added it to the pan to mix with the vegetables and beans. 

Now the fun part; plating the food. I am all about presentation and have great respect for people who can make food look beautiful. I do not know if I have that skill or not but I try. For this dish, I simply placed a small handful of mixed greens at the center of the plate, added 2 tbsp's of sour cream on the lefthand side, a stack organic corn chips around the greens, and placed the rice and beans mixture on top of the greens. To finish it off I topped it with a little cilantro and lemon/lime. 

This recipe is easy to make, healthy, and satisfying without putting a hole in your wallet! Try it out and let me know how you enjoy it! 

*You can click on the images to make them larger
*Photography was done by Maggie fortson