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A 15 minute black bean recipe you can use 7 ways!

NOW is the perfect time to share one of the EASIEST recipes.

For those of you with children, we hope this first month or so of school is off to a smooth start. If you’re like me, in addition to work, you’re juggling packing lunches, making dinners and coordinating logistics of everyone’s after school activities. It definitely takes time to get settled into a new rhythm when school starts. WHEW!

So, now seems like a great time to share one of the EASIEST meals around! This is SO very easy! It really does take only 15 minutes to make these black beans. In my house, at least for the moment, it’s a favorite reheated with rice and packed in a thermos (along with some cheese and avocado on the side) to take to school.

1 Recipe – 7 Easy Meals

This is one of those versitale recipes that will simplify your life! Let me know if you make it and discover new ways to serve it.

Rice and black beans with cheese, avocado and sour cream
Black Beans, rice and cheese burrito
Top a baked potato with black beans, grated cheese and sour cream
Serve the black beans over roasted chicken thighs with rice
Top nachos with grated cheese, black beans, guacamole and sour cream
Spoon black beans over roasted salmon (or scallops or shrimp) with farro or rice
Top scrambled (or fried) eggs on a warm corn tortilla with black beans, cheese and avocado

A New Food? Provide Structure Not Pressure

For younger children or more selective eaters, serve the black beans next to the rice, chicken, fish, etc. It’s easier to eat around the beans if they’re worried about trying them. Or serve it in a big serving bowl and allow them to serve it to themselves (even if they’re a toddler). You’re maintaining structure by offering the food and then allowing your child to decide if they serve themselves some of it. And by serving the beans on the side, it offers more selective eaters a chance to approach the food in a way that may feel less pressured.

Just keep offering. Yes, even if everyone doesn’t eat them!

We often remind our clients (and ourselves) to make foods they know their children don’t typically eat. WHAT?! Why would I do that, you ask? Because, children may need many, many exposures (sometimes more than 20) to foods before they’ll try something new. Remember, you’re going to serve one item you know they like – for example, your child might only eat the rice and none of the beans.

Sometimes, I personally fall into periods where I forget my own advice. That’s what happened with this recipe. I started making this recipe as black bean burritos when my husband and I were in grad school (about 20 years ago). I can’t remember exactly when I stopped making this or even why. I’m going to guess that one of my children didn’t like it, or maybe I just got tired of it myself. It wasn’t until Anna posted her Easy Black Beans and Rice recipe (click here to read it) that I remembered I used to make something similar!

The Perfect After School Snack

When I finally reintroduced this recipe, everyone enjoyed it. WOW! It’s not often everyone likes the same meal. This one is back in my “go-to meals” rotation on a regular basis. Especially for lunches and snacks served over rice with grated cheese, avocado and sour cream. As kids get older they often need a second lunch after school and this is an easy one to reheat on their own. I often make a double batch of it along with some rice over the weekend so there’s plenty for the week.

Easy Black Beans with Corn and Tomatoes

These super simple and delicious black beans with corn and tomatoes take only 15 minutes to make.

Author: Elizabeth Davenport

Scale

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 – 15 oz cans of black beans drained and rinsed

1 – 15 oz can of corn, drained

1 – 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

¾ of a 4 ½ ounce can of chopped green chiles**

1/4-1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

Splash of red wine vinegar (about 1 teaspoon)

Instructions

Peel and chop the garlic.
Add the garlic and olive oil to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Open all the cans.
Drain and rinse the black beans and corn and add them to the pan.
Add the chopped tomatoes and their juice, the water and the green chilies.
Add the coriander, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Then turn heat down to medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Serve over rice or one of the 6 other suggested ways to serve these beans.

Notes

*To add a little kick to the beans, add a pinch (or more to taste) of red pepper flake when you sauteé the garlic.

**Use the whole can of chilies if you prefer a stronger green chili flavor.

This week, WW – formerly Weight Watchers, announced the release of a free weight-loss app for children ages 8-17 names Kurbo. The announcement made me angry and heartbroken for another generation of children being handed the rules of dieting for the benefit of a company’s profit. As I’ve spoken out about this announcement, it’s become clear that not everyone understands the reaction to this announcement by eating disorder professionals, parents, and eating disorders and diet-culture survivors.

Diet culture affects every part of our culture, including childhood development, parenting and healthcare. As a dietitian who works with individuals with eating disorders and who is familiar with feeding and diet research, it’s clear to me that any kind of weight-loss diet directed to children is harmful. The American Academy of Pediatrics made a statement in 2016 supporting that children should not be put on diets and weight should not be a focus of their healthcare.

I’ve received many questions this week about the concerns over the weight-loss app and I’m going to attempt to address them here. They are all valid questions, given our culture. The concerns about this app are contrary to the generally accepted opinion about weight and health in our culture. However, the focus on weight throughout all parts of our culture is increasing eating disorder rates, leading to weight cycling (and the many health problems associated with weight cycling), and causing emotional harm to adults and children. It’s time for a paradigm shift.

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