• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sunny Side Up Nutrition

A cooking, nutrition and family feeding blog to simplify your life

  • Blog
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Resources
  • Work With Us
  • Nav Social Menu

Vegetarian

Easy Black Beans and Rice

February 8, 2019 by Anna Lutz 1 Comment

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about “go-to meals.” I define “go-to meals” as meals that we typically have the ingredients for in our pantry and meals I can make without planning and make quickly. I imagine you know the scenario: It’s dinnertime. Dinner hasn’t been started and you either don’t have a plan, the plan would take too long to get on the table, or you planned an easy meal because you knew it would be a hectic evening.

black beans and rice

“Go-To Meals” Are Different for Different People

Last week, Elizabeth wrote a follow up post, “Go-To Meals – Part 2,” with her family’s “go to meals.” We got a kick out of each of our lists, because many on her list would probably be on my “standard meals” list. They are not “go to meals” for me, because I would think they would take too much effort for me to make. This highlights how we all have different skill levels and comfort in the kitchen and, thus, some meals seem harder for some than others.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, cooking and planning meals takes a bit more effort for me. I very much value it, but it’s something I have to be constantly working on. Elizabeth is an amazing cook and makes cooking look easy. She actually taught me how to chop vegetables when we were in graduate school. Her ability to be calm in the kitchen has helped me learn simple skills to make cooking a little easier for me. For example, I am no longer intimidated to make a really yummy salad. Putting together a salad has become a “go to side” for me. When, before, I would have felt like it was “too hard” or that it wouldn’t be very good. Having more experiences in the kitchen and having simple skills can make cooking feel a bit easier and can expand your list of “go-to meals.” However, the fact is, we all have our own strengths and what may be a “go to meal” for you may not be for me, and vice versa.

“Go-To” Black Beans and Rice

After my post about “go-to meals,” a reader asked me for my Black Beans and Rice recipe. This is a super easy recipe (for me) and something we have been making for years. This is a recipe I share often with my clients.

First, open 2 cans of black beans and pour them in a colander in the sink and rinse. I let them sit there awhile. Then, put 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sized pot. At this point I don’t actually measure any of the items. 4 tablespoons is about four circles around the pot. Add 4 garlic cloves, minced and sauté for 1 minute. I usually use a garlic press such as this one. However, when I made this last week, I didn’t have any garlic and made it without it! Add the beans, 2 bay leaves, 1 cup of salsa, and 2 teaspoons of cumin.

Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

We like to serve with shredded cheddar cheese and diced avocado and each person can top their bowl as they’d like. I’ve been recently making rice in my Instant Pot. It feels like one less pot to attend to during the busy dinnertime. I put the rice and water in the pot and then just set it.

The beans can also be very good with tortilla chips or inside a tortilla, as a burrito. This is not authentic black beans and rice. But quick and very easy!

This post includes an Amazon affiliate link.

Print

Easy Black Beans and Rice


  • Author: Anna Lutz
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Description

Simmered Black Beans with Tex-Mex feel. Very easy “go to meal” 


Ingredients

4 Tbs olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup salsa

2 bay leaves

2 tsp cumin


Instructions

1. Heat oil in a medium sized sauce pan. 

2. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute

3. Add beans, salsa, bay leaves and cumin

4. Stir and simmer fo 10 minutes. 

5. Remove bay leaves and serve over rice

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sunnysideupnutritionists on Instagram

Filed Under: Dinner, Family Feeding, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: black beans, easy dinner, recipe, vegetarian

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to Sunny Side Up Nutrition!     

Are you looking for sound, practical nutrition and cooking information? Do you want to opt out of diet culture and the hype around food? Do you want to be empowered to foster healthy relationships with food in your home?  If so, then you’ve come to the right place!

Want to know when we post something new? Subscribe to our Mailing List:




Easy Black Beans and Rice

https://vimeo.com/316388333?loop=0

White Bean, Kale and Sausage Soup

White Bean Sausage and Kale Soup

I hadn’t planned on sharing a soup recipe this week.  But the weather has been so up and down, I found myself really craving a nice warm, hearty soup.  The weather experts had us expecting a “wintery mix” here in the DC Metro Saturday.  Thankfully, the forecast has changed, but it’s still going to be…

Read More

See More →

Archives

  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017

Footer

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2019 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework